Hargreaves Lansdown’s Bristol Financial Resilience Action Group (BFRAG) has expanded from 19 to 31 companies in its second year, now supporting 27,000 households and helping businesses strengthen employee financial resilience.
The programme was created in response to the cost-of-living crisis, emerging from the increased demand for financial education among employers and employees, particularly in auto-enrolment pension schemes.
Hargreaves Lansdown head of workplace savings analysis Clare Stinton says: “We saw a growing demand from employers and employees for financial education that goes beyond pensions. This initiative is about helping businesses support their workforce while driving real change in the community.”
Financial challenges
BFRAG provides a structured framework to strengthen employee financial resilience, focusing on six key areas: resolving payroll errors within a week, signposting debt advice, providing life cover as a default benefit, offering sick pay above statutory levels, incentivising pension contributions of at least 12 per cent, and allowing flexible pension contributions at any time.
Stinton explains: “These six areas are stepping stones that employers can shape within the workplace, but there’s much more individuals can do depending on their personal circumstances. It’s also about accountability and education, understanding how financial decisions impact long-term security.”
She highlighted payroll errors as a major issue, with many employees falling into debt due to incorrect pay. She says: “To fix this, all 19 pilot companies committed to resolving payroll errors within a week, and Brunel Care took it even further by sharing payslips in advance, allowing staff to flag mistakes before payday.”
Pension contributions were another focus. Stinton notes: “We know the biggest incentive to get employees thinking about their pension is a higher employer contribution. At HL, we always recommend an incentivised structure rather than a non-contributory one—this brings people to the table and gets them engaged in planning for their future.”
Impact
A diverse range of industries including hospitality, media, recruitment, and law have joined BFRAG, sharing insights and best practices. Stinton explains: “Bringing different employers together allows them to compare approaches and tailor financial support to their workforce.”
According to Stinton, quarterly employer discussions revealed that staff age and life stage heavily influence benefit priorities and company budgets. Older employees tend to prioritise life insurance, which becomes more expensive to fund as they age, while younger staff, if given the choice, often prefer benefits like health cash plans that offer more immediate perks.
The importance of workplace benefits also emerged as a key theme. Data from HL’s Savings and Resilience Barometer showed that financial resilience is closely tied to employer size.
Stinton says: “Nationwide data shows that 44 per cent of households where the main earner works for a large private sector company have great financial resilience. That figure is 42 per cent in the public sector—but it drops to just 28 per cent for small and medium-sized enterprises and only 13 per cent for the self-employed.”
This data reinforces the role of employers in shaping financial stability. She adds: “It’s why we focus on benefits like pensions, life assurance, and enhanced sick pay, these foundational elements can make a real difference.”
Expansion
Businesses in the programme receive 12 months of financial education and meet four times a year to discuss financial wellbeing topics. Employee feedback has been positive Stinton says, with many valuing increased pension contributions, life cover, and financial education webinars.
Stinton says: “They’re gaining tools not just for today but for their entire careers. Building financial knowledge is key to improving your financial position over time.”
All pilot companies have continued into the second year, and participation has grown. Stinton pointed to Brunel Care as an example of the programme’s impact.
She says: “Brunelcare were facing the challenges of competing for talent in the marketplace and relying on agency staff. Increasing pay and pension contributions has been transformative, leading to improved staff turnover, better company services and enhanced balance sheets.”
Brunelcare people and organisational development director Brian Whittaker adds: “People are the most important part of our business, so in 2020 we started improving our rewards and employment package. We’d made a few strides when HL came knocking with the opportunity to join BFRAG and we jumped at the chance to get involved. The 5 pillars framework gave us a great tool to assess what we were doing well, and pinpoint areas for improvement to bolster the financial resilience of our people.
“By making enhancements to pay and pension contributions we’ve seen amazing results – our staff retention has risen from 70 per cent to 87 per cent, and our vacancy rate is now just 3 per cent, well below the sector average of 9.9 per cent. The numbers are clear; when you invest in your people, the business benefits greatly. BFRAG has been an incredible way to connect with like-minded businesses to boost employee wellbeing and make a meaningful difference in the local community.”
Additionally, two businesses have introduced life insurance benefits as a direct result of the programme.
While the focus remains on Bristol, Stinton sees potential to expand BFRAG nationally. She explains: “It’s about finding the right partners to scale this framework. The six key steps can work anywhere, and with the right support, we could take this beyond the city.
“We want to make Bristol the UK’s most financially resilient city—and we’re making real progress.”
