The Trustee, its role and responsibilities
Uniper UK Trustees Limited is the Trustee company which acts as the sole Trustee of the Uniper Group of the ESPS (“the Scheme”).
Its role is to administer the Rules of the Scheme with respect to the benefits of, and contributions by, the members of the Scheme. It is also fully responsible for the Scheme’s assets and investments, which are completely separate from the finances of Uniper.
Anything affecting the Scheme as a whole is considered by the Trustee Board, including:
- ensuring the Scheme is administered correctly, and in particular that proper records are kept, and benefits are paid correctly and on time;
- setting investment beliefs and objectives, and ensuring assets are invested prudently;
- responding to valuation outcomes, and making sure that the Group is sufficiently well-funded to pay benefits as they fall due;
- reacting to developments in pensions legislation and regulations; and
- overseeing the appointment and management of advisers.
The Trustee Board may also be involved in some areas of individual membership. For example, it decides where a death benefit lump sum can be paid (when applicable).
The Trustee Board meets at least four times a year, and delegates certain responsibilities to dedicated sub-committees.
The Trustee Board
The Trustee Board has six individual Directors: three are appointed by the Company and three by members. This includes:
- A Chair appointed by the Company
- An Independent Trustee appointed by the Company
- A third Director appointed by the Company
- Three Member-Nominated Directors (MNDs) selected from the active and pensioner member population.
Regardless of how they are appointed, all Trustees have the same duty to look after the interests of the Scheme membership.
There is also a Shadow Director who plays an important role in supporting the work of the Group Trustee Board, but they are not a Trustee and don’t vote on Board matters.
Each MND will typically serve for up to six years, although they can apply for re-selection at the end of their term.
Almost any active or pensioner member of the Scheme can stand as MND, as long as they meet the relevant conditions and comply with the Rules governing the selection process.
MND selection pageYou can meet the current members of the Trustee Board below.
Meet the current Trustee board
Matthew Bayes
As Head of Business Controlling UK, Matt manages the team responsible for the financial reporting, planning and business partnering of Asset Operations in the UK. They also assist enabling functions with financial matters and actively support all valuation and investment decision processes in the UK. Matt is also a Director of Uniper UK Ltd and several of its subsidiaries. Matt chairs the Trustee Board.
Paul Cockram
Paul is the Outage and Integrity Team Leader at Cottam Development Centre, Killingholme and Pipelines business. He began his career in the power industry straight out of school, joining Nuclear Electric as a craft apprenticeship. Since, he has worked for UK Power Generation Utilities as well as Power plant manufacturer’s building power stations worldwide. Paul Joined E.On Engineering in 2007 working on all the UK assets and a number of internal and external customers across Europe.
Martin Eisele
As Senior Vice President Treasury at Uniper SE in Düsseldorf, Martin is responsible for managing the team responsible for liquidity, financial risk management, short-term and intragroup financing as well as trade finance and working capital activities at Uniper. Before being responsible for the Treasury function, Martin was Senior Vice President Pension Asset & Liability Management, overseeing Uniper’s pension assets. He spent more than 10 years in banking before joining Uniper in 2016. Martin is also a Board Member of Uniper Pension Trust e.V. in Germany.
Gary Masters
Gary is an Integrity Engineer with Uniper Technologies Ltd. Since obtaining a PhD in Marine Technology in 1994, he’s spent his career in the oil, gas and power generation industries. After 4 years of working for a small corrosion consultancy in Sheffield, during which he became a Chartered Engineer, Gary spent 8 years with Advantica (formerly British Gas Research & Technology) in Loughborough, before joining E.ON Power Technology (now Uniper Technologies) in 2006.
Jas Sandhu
Jas has a degree in Chemical Engineering but ventured into tax working for HMRC in the mid-1980s. Jas joined PowerGen and had various roles in tax within PowerGen and E.ON. Jas headed up the Uniper UK tax team but is now a Pensioner.
Fiona Stark, Capital Cranfield Pension Trustees Limited
Fiona is an accredited Professional Trustee with over 30 years Trustee experience. A qualified lawyer, most of her executive career was spent at Powergen/E.ON, latterly as Corporate Affairs Director on the UK Board. During her time at E.ON she chaired a number of the Company’s pension schemes. Fiona now represents Capital Cranfield on a number of schemes across a range of different sectors. She is also a pro bono Trustee and Chair on a couple of schemes.
How to contact the Trustee Board or find further information
If you have any queries for or about the Trustees specifically, please contact: Muse Advisory Limited, Secretary to the Trustees, who will liaise with the Trustees as necessary:
For any other enquiries please use the details on the contacts page.