RIGHT ROYAL PENSION ROW
ITV has lost the latest round in a long-running pensions dodger row.
The Pensions Regulator wants the broadcaster of hit drama Victoria to shoulder responsibility for the Box Clever retirement fund.
Box Clever was a TV rental firm set up by Granada and electronics firm Thorn in 2000.
It collapsed in 2003 – a year before Granada merged with Carlton to create ITV – but not before Granada had received £500million.
The deficit in the 2,800 member pension scheme has since ballooned to more than £90m. The Court of Appeal has now thrown out ITV’s latest legal challenge and the fight moves on with a hearing scheduled for January. The issue of who is responsible for pension schemes was highlighted by the collapse of BHS. Tycoon Sir Philip Green eventually agreed to cough up £363m after the chain, which he flogged for £1, collapsed last year. ITV said: “We have defended the case robustly over the last six years and will continue to do so.”