Lancaster University has acquired The Work Foundation after it was wound up due to a pension deficit.
The 92-year-old workplace practices researcher and consultancy will continue to operate as a distinctive entity and its brand and work programmes will remain intact. It will stay at its Westminster headquarters and none of its 43 staff, including its executive vice chair Will Hutton, will lose their jobs.
Professor Sue Cox, Dean of the Lancaster University Management School, said: “This development cements a long-standing relationship between LUMS and The Work Foundation. There are obvious synergies – for example in the areas of HR, Innovation, Labour Economics and Organisational Health and Wellbeing – and we are very excited about combining our respective strengths.”
The move took place after The Work Foundation filed a winding up petition at the High Court, citing a pension deficit. Lancaster acquired its entire ongoing business as well as certain assets with the help of restructuring, recovery and insolvency experts FRP Advisory in a deal that minimised losses to creditors, including pension fund members.
Stephan Bevan, The Work Foundation’s managing director, said there were many areas where its work and that of the University were complementary. “Our existing programmes of research on the world of work are strong and influential. But being able to work in partnership with eminent experts in a number of disciplines and having access to new networks both in the UK and overseas will further strengthen our impact,” he added.
