The UK Pensions Regulator yesterday scored an important victory in a test case of its powers to force companies to make payments into their retirement schemes when Sea Containers, which is in bankruptcy proceedings, dropped its legal challenge to a ruling made last June.

The Bermuda-based, US-domiciled company, received the regulator's first ever Financial Support Direction last year after the regulator, which is chaired by David Norgrove, concluded that the two schemes of the company's GNER rail subsidiary were "in a parlous state". Those FSDs were re-issued on January 31.