UK - Kieran Poynter, UK chairman of consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), has announced the firm's £140m commitment of additional funding will eliminate its staff pension fund deficit over the next three years.

The news comes amid the firm's growth of 11% in it's UK turnover to £2bn for the financial year to 30 June 2006; the firm has seen turnover surge by 25% over the last two years, increasing a total of £400m.

The firm's human resources services have grown, with a strong demand for pensions and actuarial advice.

Recent reports estimated that 75% of FTSE350 companies run final salary pension schemes, 90% of which are in deficit.

Among the top 100 companies, British Airways, BT, BAE Systems, ICI and Rolls Royce alone account for 20% of the total corporate pension fund deficit.