Welcome to The Occupational Pensioners' Alliance Website.

Please use the menus above to browse our various web pages and different Topics.

The OPA expresses the views of all member associations whether representatives of traditional Final Salary Schemes (Defined Benefit), Defined Contribution Schemes and deferred members, or hybrids of these types of scheme.

The Alliance policy is determined by the Council in consultation with its member associations. It lobbies parliament and responds to government enquiries on any matters concerning occupational pensions. Our constitution is available here.

The OPA's services to members include keeping members informed on current pension issues and offering advice based on other member associations' experiences (but not legal advice).

The OPA also conducted surveys of its members' schemes between 2008 and 2012 to help the council formulate our policies. Please see how you can help in this.

The OPA also offers to those who do not have their own websites the hosting of single webpages to publicise details of individual member associations.

Initial History, Recent Events and Changes to The OPA:

Occupational Pensions Alliance has been active since 2003/4 after a merger of COPAS and The Royal Mail and BT Pensioner Associations and other Associations subsequently. In 2006 Gordon Williams, Council Member and representative of ROPA created the OPA Website using the Domain name previously registered by Brian Marks also a Council Member and first Chair of OPA.

Sadly both these senior members passed away during the last six months of 2012. This unexpected development, coupled with the retirement of Roger Turner as Executive Secretary in September 2012, has removed three very important contributors to the formation of OPA which has become a welcome force on the national pensions scene including occupational pensions. Fortunately OPA’s Council and its current organisation have been able to rise to the challenges of coping with these personnel changes and the impact on its organisation and communications.

We are very grateful to Hazel Marks, Brian’s widow, for her recent assistance in helping to access the relevant information to restore the OPA Website. We can now build upon the impressive efforts undertaken by Gordon Williams since 2006 creating some 60 Web Pages of Occupational Pensions Information, including Reports with Surveys and Statistics , past legislation and even how to form a Pensioners Association.

We are also wish to record our thanks to the Williams’ family, especially Shirley, Gordon’s widow and her daughter, Lyn Smith in helping to ascertain how we may restore the Website operation as it had overlapped on certain key pages with the ROPA Website.

Personally I am also grateful to Alan Ford of Trafalgar House Pensioners’ Association and an OPA Council Member who reminded me of a local company contact (Cyber Central) in Thanet which had the website knowledge and expertise to make the requisite changes to restore the OPA Website to function again and resume as an effective communication channel.

Last website update: 5th March 2013.