UK – Lucy Neville-Rolfe, retailer Tesco’s new company secretary and a former government aide, has replaced Rowley Ager on its pension trustee board.

“Following Mr R S Ager’s retirement, the new group company secretary, Ms L Neville-Rolfe, will take up his role on the Trustee Company Board,” the company said in its new annual report.

Neville-Rolfe is director of corporate affairs and added the company secretary role in March. She joined Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, in 1997 from the government’s Cabinet Office. Ager retired in February.

A spokesman said former deputy chairman V W Benjamin remains chairman of the trustee board. The group’s main scheme is the 1.5 billion-pound Tesco PLC Pension Scheme. It underwent an actuarial valuation as of March 2002, when it was 91% funded. The next valuation is due as at March 31 2005.

Under FRS17 the market value of the scheme is 1.98 billion pounds, with liabilities of 2.65 billion pounds – leading to a 674 million-pound deficit.

It said: “The company has reviewed the results of the subsequent FRS17 valuation and does not consider that any changes to the level of funding are necessary at this time.”