£10,175 raised for 'David and Goliath' Boots pension fight

THOUSANDS of pounds have been raised for a “David and Goliath” battle with Boots over controversial changes to workers’ pensions.

- By JOSHUA HARTLEY

Pension claimants who worked at Boots, along with other supporters, have raised more than £10,000 to pay for legal advice in a dispute being investigated by The Pension Ombudsman.

The ombudsman, which handles complaints about how pension schemes are run, is investigating the health and beauty giant's decision to stop workers from taking a full pension at 60, which had long been the employer's policy.

In 2023 the company's then owner - American company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) made a multi-billion deal with insurer Legal & General, which both parties said would protect pension scheme members by transferring them and their benefits to L&G.

However, the removal of the ability to take early retirement as part of the arrangement meant some staff were left weighing up whether to work for five more years or take a large cut to their payments.