The organisation

Employers in local government are under pressure to protect their staff against inflationary pressures, despite managing shrinking budgets. As a result, the issue of recruitment and retention within Councils continues to grow. Where higher wages aren’t an option, employers need alternative ways to support the future financial wellbeing of their staff – all whilst saving money.

Scheme objectives :

• Provide a valuable and flexible retirement savings opportunity for their LGPS members.

• Support the financial wellbeing of their workforce with effective retirement education.

• Grow scheme participation and grow savings by raising awareness of the scheme internally amongst employees.

Cardiff City Council

LGPS members: 7000

Scheme launched: September 2022

In September 2022, Cardiff Council chose to join AVC Wise and our fully managed Shared Cost AVC solution as they recognised the opportunity to offer their LGPS members access to a life-changing retirement benefit that is a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution (Shared Cost AVC) scheme.

Since launching their scheme, Cardiff have worked closely with us to increase awareness of Shared Cost AVCs amongst their LGPS workforce, to help more of their employees save money at a time when it means the most.

In addition, as any employee Shared Cost AVC contributions are exempt from Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs), the initial growth of their scheme has brought valuable organisational savings for the Council.

Results in just 6 months:

Registrations to Shared Cost AVC platform: 1563 / 22% of workforce

Shared Cost AVC participants: 337 /  5% of workforce

Amount of monthly salary sacrificed by employees: £86,513

Employer savings since launch: £26,085

“AVC Wise guided us through every step of the implementation process and provided us with support and guidance. They continue to support us and our employees with any queries we may have. They were very professional, and nothing was too much trouble. The whole process is easy from start to finish, and it puts the employee in charge - they can sign up, increase or reduce their savings accordingly via the online portal. The communications plan was really helpful, and as a result we had a very strong start, and we continue to have steady take up 6 months later. Colleagues found the webinars helpful as they not only explained the benefits of taking out an AVC they also explained the LGPS pension – this has given employees a better understanding and how they can plan for their retirement.” - Tracey Thomas, Chief HR Officer, Cardiff Council

Here’s how we did it:

To launch their scheme successfully, Cardiff Council made use of a bespoke Communications Plan from AVC Wise to support the initial and continued promotion of Shared Cost AVCs to as many LGPS members on their workforce as possible. This Communications Plan includes:

• An array of digital communications such as intranet materials, portal banners and promotional emails with useful details about their scheme.

• A range of webinars to educate LGPS members on their new retirement benefit. For the month following Cardiff’s launch, AVC Wise’s retirement experts hosted 7 bespoke webinars for their employees, including topics like ‘The LGPS and Shared Cost AVCs’ and ‘How to retire early and with more money’.

• Fresh webinar topics, updated regularly to make sure LGPS members are kept up to date with changing financial trends. A webinar titled ‘Tax, Inflation and the Cost of Your Morning Coffee’ recently launched to help members gain a better understanding of how they can enhance their retirement despite the rising cost of living.

With a 21.7% conversion rate, webinars have proven a powerful educational tool for Cardiff to help their employees feel more informed and confident about their retirement options.

• Individual ‘1-to-1’ Meetings are offered following each webinar and enable members to calculate their most efficient Shared Cost AVC contribution with one of AVC Wise’s retirement experts.

• Quarterly Live Q&A sessions where employees can ask our retirement experts any questions they have surrounding retirement, Shared Cost AVCs or the LGPS. 

• 24/7 support for Cardiff’s members through their own online ‘Always On’ portal featuring brief educational videos, a retirement calculator, and FAQs amongst other helpful resources.

If you would like to a way to support your employees’ financial wellbeing and begin making valuable organisational savings like Cardiff Council, then look no further than a Shared Cost AVC scheme. Visit us at www.avcwise.co.uk, contact us now on 01252 959 779 or email us at info@avcwise.co.uk to find out more.