Press Release
Embargoed Wednesday 18th November 00.01
Ageing poses risk to UK economy argue business leaders
Companies pledge to lead the way in tackling the challenges of demographic change
A group of major national and international companies has signed an open letter and
pledged to “work over the next five years to help make our ageing society and
economy more sustainable”.
In the letter, the companies point out that “without action, our ageing society poses a
risk to the UK economy and our business.
The businesses highlight that demographic change today means that we are
“already witnessing shortages in critical parts of our economy“.
Whilst on the one hand, the business leaders recognise the potential of older
consumers. They highlight that too few people are saving enough to have a good
retirement. They also point out that having a healthy workforce will be key to
addressing the UK productivity, yet point out that more investment in healthy ageing
needs to be made.
The businesses signing the letter argue that “action by all of us over the next five
years could make the UK a world leader.”
They point out that “companies have a big part to play in tackling the challenges of
demographic change. We can create jobs for all ages. We can help our workforce
age well. And we can ensure our products and services are relevant for all.”
Next week, government, industry and voluntary sector experts will come together at
the first national Future of Ageing Conference. The conference, organised by the
International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK) will seek to kick start a debate on the
role companies have to play in helping us adapt to demographic change.
Baroness Sally Greengross OBE, ILC-UK Chief Executive said: “Businesses
must play a significant role in helping us adapt to our ageing society. They need to
create jobs for all ages, help UK plc improve its productivity and help people to plan
better for their retirement. Businesses who grasp the demographic opportunity will
reap significant financial rewards. Older consumers have significant purchasing
power and reaping this potential will offer economic returns. It is in all of our interests
that more businesses engage with the challenges and opportunities of demographic
change”.
Jane Ashcroft CBE, CEO of housing and care provider Anchor said: "We must
stop seeing our ageing society as a cost. Older workers can bring wisdom and
experience in the same way older consumers are fuelling our economy. We have to
act now to ensure a positive future for the older people of tomorrow."
Shaun Crawford, Global Insurance Sector Leader at EY: “EY fully endorses the
critical role businesses have in creating and sustaining healthy workforces that
deliver the benefits for employers, individuals and communities. EY’s own research
has clearly established the link between wellbeing, productivity and
performance. Taking care of physical and psychological health is critical to enjoying
life; working at older ages to sustain household incomes and as longevity continues
to increase, improving the proportion of this extended life in good rather than in poor
health.”
Steve Groves, Chief Executive Officer, Partnership said: "Partnership is pleased
to add its support to the ILC-UK led pledge to work towards helping make our ageing
society and economy more sustainable. The challenges associated with
demographic change are significant and it is important that these are addressed as a
priority. With an ever growing older population, with few saving enough for a good
retirement, it is essential that more is done to encourage and stimulate a pensions
savings culture and equip people with the skills and interest to engage more in the
process."
Gary Shaughnessy, CEO of Zurich UK Life, said: “Increasing life expectancy and
chronic under-saving could leave many people facing a shortfall in retirement. The
insurance industry is rising to the challenge by encouraging more people to save and
developing new products that support them in later life. The Government also has a
role to play by fostering a stable pensions system that incentivises long-term saving."
Gary Day from McCarthy & Stone, the UK’s leading retirement housebuilder,
said: “The population is ageing rapidly but the UK’s housing stock is not suitable to
cope with this change. There is a lack of choice when older people come to move to
properties that are designed for them in later life. This impacts negatively on a range
of areas – poorer well-being, higher public spending on health and care, and blocked
housing chains. We need to raise our focus beyond starter homes and greatly
encourage the building of more retirement properties and housing suitable for older
people across all tenures.”
Fiona Dunsire, Chief Executive Officer, Mercer said: “Mercer’s Age Friendly
Employer Research showed only a fraction of companies have implemented ‘age
friendly’ policies to help them retain and attract older workers. Tactics like agespecific wellness programmes, reviews of pay equity across comparable jobs across
age bands, age discrimination checks, training targeted at older workers and line
manager training are still only offered by a handful of employers. Employers need to
be doing more to develop corporate policies that allow their business to tap into this
talent pool. We strongly advocate that companies investigate their workforce
planning need to establish the extent of the impact of an ageing society on their
businesses.”
Bruce Moore, Chief Executive of Housing & Care 21, said: “As a specialist
provider of housing and care services for older people, we can see clearly the
challenges that an ageing population presents to society, and the different ways in
which we can work together to meet these challenges and make sure people can
continue to enjoy healthy and active lifestyles in later life. We must also not lose
sight of the contribution older people can continue to make to our society, given the
right opportunities and support.”
Rachael Saunders, Age at Work Director, Business in the Community said
“More and more employers are making the most of the increasing asset of skilled,
knowledge able and networked people that longer working lives offer. Making the
most of this asset does mean changing how workplaces operate – responsible
businesses are leading the way”.
Colin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Key Retirement said: “As an organisation
focussed on the financial wellbeing of our older population we wholeheartedly
support this initiative by ILC-UK. As a company who specialises in financial advice
and support for the over 55s we fully understand the importance of ensuring that as
our society ages we must continue to innovate and provide financial solutions which
give both genuine and tangible values to the wider ageing population.”
Martin Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Home Instead Senior Care, a UK
national homecare provider which specialises in care for older people, said: “We are
already committed to creating jobs for all ages. We have CAREGivers in their 50s,
60s and 70s whose life experience make them brilliant assets for our business which
delivers relationship-led homecare for the UK's ageing population. We simply do not
see age as a barrier to a career in care with us and we provide ongoing training to
promote personal development, no matter what a person's stage in life."
Signatories to the letter and pledge are:
Jane Ashcroft, Chief Executive, Anchor
Nick Sanderson, Chief Executive Officer, Audley Retirement
Rachael Saunders, Age at Work Director, Business in the Community
Shaun Crawford, Global Insurance Sector Leader, EY
Jilly Forster, Chair, Forster Communications
Bruce Moore, Chief Executive, Housing and Care 21
Douglas Anderson, Partner at Hymans Robertson & Founder of Club Vita
Martin Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Home Instead Senior Care
Stephen Lowe, Group Director, Just Retirement
Colin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Key Retirement
Fiona Dunsire, Chief Executive Officer, Mercer
Gary Day, Land and Planning Director, McCarthy and Stone
Andrew Rear, Chairman, Munich Re UK Services
Steve Groves, Chief Executive Officer, Partnership
Phil Loney, Group Chief Executive, Royal London
Romana Abdin, Chief Executive for Simplyhealth
Gary Shaughnessy, UK Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance plc
Contact
Dave Eaton (davideaton@ilcuk.org.uk) or David Sinclair (davidsinclair@ilcuk.org.uk)
. Tel 02073400440
Notes to editor
The International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK) has organised the first “future of
ageing” conference to take place on November 24th. During this event, signatories to
the letter and the ILC-UK pledge will debate the role of business in responding to the
challenges of ageing. Other speakers at the event include Other speakers at the
event include Baroness Altmann (Minister or Pensions); Professor Sir Mark
Walport (Government Chief Scientific Adviser [GCSA] and Head of the Government
Office for Science); Lord Willetts (Executive Chair at Resolution Foundation, and
former Minister of State [Department for Business, Innovation and Skills]); Lord
Filkin (Chair of the Centre for Ageing Better and Chair of the House of Lords
Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change); Paul Johnson (Director,
Institute for Fiscal Studies); Steve Groves (Chief Executive Officer at Partnership);
Professor Jane Elliott (Chief Executive, Economic and Social Research Council);
Steven Baxter (Partner, Hymans Robertson); Professor Ian Philp (Deputy Medical
Director for Older People’s Care, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust); Elaine
Draper (Director, Accessibility & Inclusion, Barclays); Mario Ambrosi (Head of
Communications and Public Affairs, Anchor); and Baroness Kay Andrews (Member
of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, Former Parliamentary UnderSecretary (Department for Communities and Local Government) 2006-2009)
The pledge
We will work over the next five years to help make our ageing society and economy
more sustainable.
The Open Letter
Our ageing society is of significant importance to UK plc. Without action, our ageing
society poses a risk to the UK economy and our business. But action by all of us
over the next five years could make the UK a world leader.
Companies have a big part to play in tackling the challenges of demographic
change. We can create jobs for all ages. We can help our workforce age well. And
we can ensure our products and services are relevant for all.
As business leaders we have a vested interest. We need skilled workers yet are
already witnessing shortages in critical parts of our economy.
We know that a healthy workforce will be a vital part of addressing the UK
productivity puzzle as our society ages yet society invests too little in healthy ageing.
We want tomorrow’s older consumers active in the economy yet savings levels are
not likely to be adequate to allow many to enjoy the active retirement they want.
Next week, government, industry and voluntary sector experts will come together at
the first national Future of Ageing Conference. The conference will kick start a
debate on the role companies have to play in helping us adapt to demographic
change.
As a group of companies, we will work with policymakers and key stakeholders the
over the next five years, to make our ageing society and economy more sustainable.
We urge other companies to join with us.
Jane Ashcroft, Chief Executive, Anchor
Nick Sanderson, Chief Executive Officer, Audley Retirement
Rachael Saunders, Age at Work Director, Business in the Community
Shaun Crawford, Global Insurance Sector Leader, EY
Jilly Forster, Chair, Forster Communications
Bruce Moore, Chief Executive, Housing and Care 21
Douglas Anderson, Partner at Hymans Robertson & Founder of Club Vita
Martin Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Home Instead Senior Care
Stephen Lowe, Group Director, Just Retirement
Colin Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Key Retirement
Fiona Dunsire, Chief Executive Officer, Mercer
Gary Day, Land and Planning Director, McCarthy and Stone
Andrew Rear, Chairman, Munich Re UK Services
Steve Groves, Chief Executive Officer, Partnership
Phil Loney, Group Chief Executive, Royal London
Romana Abdin, Chief Executive for Simplyhealth
Gary Shaughnessy, UK Chief Executive Officer Zurich Insurance plc
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