Premdor Crosby Pension Plan completes £16m buy-in with Royal London

Written by Adam Cadle

28/10/2025

Premdor Crosby Pension Plan has completed a £16m bulk purchase annuity (BPA) transaction with Royal London, covering the benefits of 181 members.

The trustees were advised by WTW and Pinsent Masons under a sole insurer quote process, while Royal London was advised by Hogan Lovells.

The deal marks the first time Royal London has completed a transaction with BESTrustees as chair of trustees, as well as its first collaboration with WTW on a scheme not linked to WTW’s own staff pension arrangements.

It also marks Royal London’s first use of its deferred premium solution, which defers part of the premium until 2026.

Royal London has now completed 12 external BPA transactions so far in 2025, covering around 6,500 members and approximately £815m of premium.

Indeed, the UK BPA market is on track for a record-breaking 350 transactions in 2025, with total volumes expected to exceed £40bn for the third consecutive year.

Royal London BPA origination manager, Victoria Smith, said the provider was “excited to announce this transaction with the Premdor Crosby Pension Plan”, adding that it had been “working in close collaboration with the trustees and their advisers in recent months to design and implement a tailored solution”.

“This includes our first use of a deferred premium structure,” she noted.

“We’re looking forward to impressing the trustees and their members with our mutual-led delivery over the decades ahead.”

BESTrustees trustee executive, Rachel Tranter, said it had been “an absolute pleasure to have led the trustees through this transaction”, praising Royal London’s “responsive, accessible, pragmatic and innovative” approach.

“The trustees’ adviser team worked extremely well together to ensure a smooth transaction,” she added.

“I look forward to the next phase, which has got off to a good start.”

WTW risk transfer director, Tom Ashworth, commented that the success of the deal was driven by “strong collaboration and clear communication across all parties”.

“A key feature of the transaction was the tailored deferred premium structure,” he claimed.

“Royal London agreeing to such an approach for a smaller pension scheme is especially valuable as it enabled early execution whilst preserving liquidity and delivering certainty for both trustees and members.”

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