Mike Birch appointed to Scottish Widows Master Trust

6 August 2025

Scottish Widows has announced that Mike Birch has joined its Master Trust as a trustee.

Mike is a client director with professional trustee and governance experts Vidett and he has an extensive background in pensions, banking and regulation.

Mike spent more than a decade at The Pensions Regulator (TPR), where he led some of its most challenging and high-profile engagements. He also helped develop the regulator’s approach to new areas of pension engagement such as Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) and Superfunds.

He was a member of TPR’s Regulatory Decisions Committee responsible for authorising Master Trusts, and several Project Oversight Committees. Prior to TPR, Mike worked in corporate banking and was also part of the UK Government Investments (UKGI) team working to respond to the global financial crisis.

Mike is accredited as a Professional Trustee by the Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) and is a member of the APPT Legislation and Regulation Sub-Committee.

He has joined the trustee board alongside Jonathan Reynolds, Joanne Fairbairn, Cheryl Black and Gerald Wellesley, who, although recently retired from Vidett, continues to serve as an independent trustee.

Jonathan Reynolds, Chair of the Scottish Widows Master Trust, said: “Mike will bring extremely valuable experience from his work at The Pensions Regulator and in banking and pensions, as well as deep technical knowledge, all of which will be hugely beneficial to the Scottish Widows Master Trust.”

Jerry Butcher, Workplace and Accumulation Director at Scottish Widows, said: “This is a pivotal time for workplace pensions and I’m looking forward to working with Mike on continuing to grow the Master Trust, building on the strong foundations we have established over the past few years. Mike’s experience will further enhance the strength of the trustee board and support our collective commitment to delivering the best possible outcomes for members.”

Mike Birch said: “Scottish Widows Master Trust is on an ambitious growth trajectory, so it’s a great time to be joining such a strong team of experienced trustees. I’m excited to get stuck in and play an active role to help our savers enjoy the retirement they deserve.”
 

Download full press release (PDF, 156KB)

Notes

About Scottish Widows

Founded in 1815, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest digital bank and financial services group. With more than £232bn assets under administration and more than six million customers, Scottish Widows’ award-winning product range includes workplace and individual pensions, annuities, life cover, critical illness and income protection, as well as savings and investment products.

More than two million customers access Scottish Widows products and services through the Lloyds Bank and Scottish Widows apps, in addition to accessing directly through independent financial advisers. The Scottish Widows Platform is trusted by more than 18,000 advisers and 5,400 advice firms, which manage the pensions and investments of almost 166,000 clients.