Yell chiefs hang on to pension perks

TOP executives at Yell, BT's former Yellow Pages directories business, are keeping their gold-plated pensions while forcing new staff into stingy, high-risk retirement plans. Yell, about to float with a £2bn price tag, has shut the generous final-salary scheme it inherited from BT, which pays contributions of 11-12%.

New employees, many modestly paid, must instead join a riskier scheme linked to stock market performance. The group has also slashed contributions, which start at just 4% - far lower than most employers. These rise to a maximum of 6% after five years' service, 8% after 10 years and a top rate of 10% after 15 years.

Yell chief executive John Condron, 52, has a stake in the business expected to be worth £15m. He is in line for an annual pension of £146,000 and a lump sum of £439,000. He enjoyed pension increases last year that would have cost £817,000 to fund on the open market.

As one of his perks, his pension has been boosted by more than two and a half years' additional service.

Finance director John Davis, with a stake worth £6m, is entitled to a full pension of two-thirds final salary after 30 years' service instead of the usual 40. The details, revealed in Yell's flotation prospectus, show its final scheme is 9% underfunded. Yell said: 'We believe the scheme compares favourably with others of its kind.'