Independent pension trustees are becoming vigorous in defence of their members when the restructuring cake is cut.

“A defined benefits pension scheme is a large, unpredictable, aggressive and powerful creditor that makes solvent turnround much harder,” says Jon Moulton, managing partner at Alchemy Partners, a turnround private equity firm. “It dominates the early stages of assessing a turnround and it may even stop it. If you sell assets to pay down debt, you will have the trustees round your ears.”