Pension payout for former MG Rover staff

An £8m pension settlement has been reached with some former MG Rover staff, almost a decade after the car firm collapsed.

About 6,000 workers lost their jobs when the Birmingham-based company entered administration in April 2005, leaving debts of more than £1bn.

The Pension Regulator announced on Thursday a deal had been reached with 95 former staff, mainly managers.

It said they would receive benefits totalling more than £8m.

The Pensions Regulator said following its investigation, MGR Capital Ltd, a company set up to acquire the MG Rover loan book, agreed to pay the money into the MG Rover Group Senior Pension Scheme.

Richard Burden, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, said he welcomed the news, but that 6,000 other former Longbridge workers had received nothing from a promised trust fund.

He said a "commitment was made and should have been honoured".

Mr Burden said the announcement put the trust fund "back on the agenda".

MGR Capital Ltd was thought to be worth more than £23m at the time it entered liquidation in 2009 and could be worth much more by now, he added.

He called for part of those funds to be used to pay former MG Rover staff.