TCS client NEST signs up over 100,000 employers

India's largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced on Tuesday that its client, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) in the UK, has now signed up more than 100,000 employers to its auto-enrolment pension scheme. This also means that the company's insurance vertical will see an uptick in demand.

The roll-out of the auto-enrolment reforms began in October 2012 and are being introduced in stages up until 2018. NEST has seen employer numbers increase by over 100% since the beginning of 2016, as well as rapid growth in membership figures. Since roll-out began, more than three million members have been enrolled with NEST, with membership figures tripling from one million to three million since April 2014.

Helen Dean, CEO, NEST said: "From a standing start in October 2012, NEST now has 100,000 employers signed up to the scheme and more than three million members. Managing such high volumes in such a short space of time is no mean feat. It is vital that our IT infrastructure and digital services are able to flex and scale to meet demand as auto-enrolment continues to roll-out. The systems, processes and technology that TCS has developed as a pension scheme administrator have been essential to getting us to where we are today."

NEST was established in 2010 as part of the UK government's workplace pension reforms, which require all UK employers to enrol their eligible workforce into a qualifying workplace pension scheme.

For TCS this will mean getting growth momentum for its insurance platform Diligenta, which has been weak for FY16. N Chandrasekaran, CEO & MD, TCS, had stated during the announcement of its fourth quarter results that insurance has turned the corner.

As NEST's IT solutions partner and scheme administrator, TCS is responsible for delivering outcome-based, end-to-end administration services across all aspects of the scheme. TCS set up the IT platforms that underpin NEST's operations, including front- and back-office, IT infrastructure hosting and overarching management and governance of the scheme administration. TCS BaNCS – a suite of bespoke solutions designed for the banking, insurance, pension and capital markets industries – sits at the heart of the NEST scheme, with additional technology, business process and infrastructure services also being provided by the TCS team.

"As a pension scheme conceived and built in the digital era, NEST is a fantastic example of what is possible when you put digital technology and advanced IT infrastructures at the heart of your organisation. We're extremely proud to have been a NEST partner since 2010 and look forward to continuing our work together to offer the UK's most innovative, user-friendly auto-enrolment pension scheme," said Shankar Narayanan, country head, UK & Ireland, TCS.

The rapid growth in employer numbers is testament to a strong working partnership between TCS and NEST. TCS has worked in collaboration with NEST to enhance the services and experiences offered to employers and members. The scheme was built to be a digital-first offering for employers and members, which means that it can be quickly and efficiently scaled up as demand increases.

With a workforce of more than 11,000 people in the UK, TCS is one of the country's leading digital employers. The company has offices in more than 30 UK locations, including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Ipswich, Norwich, Peterborough and Liverpool. These sites help to deliver digital projects for more than 150 TCS customers in the UK, including Boots, BT, Diageo, National Grid, Nationwide, Marks & Spencer, Thames Water and Virgin Atlantic.