Anyone starting a business must understand the new pension rules

The biggest change in pensions for more than a hundred years started in October when automatic enrolment began to roll out. And even for small businesses it’s something that needs considering.

Beginning with the largest firms, employers will be required by law to pay into a workplace pension for staff who do not opt out.

It is estimated that by the end of 2012, about 600,000 more people in the UK will be saving into a workplace pension and by May 2015 about 4.3 million people will be saving for their old age.

Steve Webb, Minister for Pensions, said: “We will start seeing large firms, such as banks and big supermarkets, automatically enrolling their staff into a workplace pension. Between now and 2018, more and more employers will come on stream - right down to the smallest ones. If we can get between six and nine million more people saving in a pension by the time all employers are in, that’s a genuine savings revolution.”