As you may be aware, two of our six Trustee Directors are member-nominated, and were appointed in accordance with the Scheme's nomination and selection process for member-nominated Trustee Directors (MNTDs) (the "MNTD Arrangements"). The Scheme's current MNTDs are Phil Harris-Bridge (who was appointed on 26 October 2015) and Peter Dowsett (who was appointed on 1 June 2016).

In line with the Pensions Regulator's guidance, the Trustee Directors have recently reviewed the MNTD Arrangements to ensure that they remain appropriate for the Scheme. In particular, the following points were considered during the review:

•    MNTDs are typically appointed for a term of three to six years. The current term of office for the Scheme's MNTDs is three years, so is at the shorter end of the scale
•    Given the increasingly complex nature of UK pensions, it can take time for MNTDs to build up the required level of knowledge and understanding to enable them to effectively fulfil their role. Therefore, it may not be in the Scheme's best interests to run an election process for MNTDs after a relatively short term of office (when the existing MNTDs have built up valuable knowledge)
•    Only one nomination was received for the last MNTD vacancy.

As a result of these considerations, the Trustee has decided to amend the MNTD Arrangements with effect from 27 February 2018 so that both the existing (and future) MNTDs will be appointed for a term of four years (rather than three years).

The terms of office of the existing MNTDs will therefore expire on 1 June 2020, four years from the date of Peter's appointment and slightly beyond four years from Phil's appointment (so that future election processes for the MNTD roles are aligned.)