Who we are
Who we are
We are an independent organisation set up by law to help people resolve their pension disputes and complaints. We are completely impartial and our service is free.
Our Team
We have a team of over 100 people who deal with enquiries, decide whether we can look at a complaint, investigate complaints and ensure the organisation is well run.
Our organisation chart shows how we are structured.
In addition, we have a volunteer network of over 200 pension professionals who help us resolve complaints and disputes at an early stage.
The power to make final and binding decisions rests with an Ombudsman. The Pensions Ombudsman and Deputy Pensions Ombudsman are appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
They have the same powers to make decisions about occupational and personal pension schemes, the Pension Protection Fund and the Financial Assistance Scheme.
If we decide we can look into your complaint, we will allocate it to one of our Adjudicators. They have powers delegated from an Ombudsman to gather evidence and say what the outcome should be.
Find out more about what we do
Explore the role of The Pensions Ombudsman, how we are governed and our vision, aims and values.
Our Ombudsmen and governance structure
We have a Pensions Ombudsman and a Deputy Pensions Ombudsman. There is an Operational Executive and our Corporate Board provides strategic leadership. Please note that our Corporate Board do not deal with individual complaints or make individual casework decisions. You can find out more below:
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Dominic Harris
Pensions Ombudsman and Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman
Dominic Harris is the Pensions Ombudsman and the Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman. He was appointed by the Secretary of State with effect from 16 January 2023, for a term of five years.
As well as being the Ombudsman, as the Chief Executive of the organisation he is also a member of the Executive and the Corporate Board.
Dominic is a solicitor advocate, who has been specialising in pensions law for the past 22 years. He originally trained and qualified at Nabarro, before moving to CMS and becoming a partner in the pensions team in 2012.
He has experience acting for members, trustees and sponsors. Immediately prior to taking up his appointment, he was the Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers' Investment & Defined Contribution Committee and also holds an MBA from IMD Business School in Switzerland.
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Camilla Barry
Deputy Pensions Ombudsman
Camilla Barry was appointed (by the Minister for Pensions, Emma Reynolds MP) as Deputy Pensions Ombudsman in November 2024, with her first term starting on 9 December 2024.
Camilla has specialised in pensions law for over 27 years. Having originally trained as a barrister, she worked at Simmons & Simmons, CMS and Macfarlanes. She became a partner at Macfarlanes in 2010 and led the pensions practice from 2014 to 2024.
In private practice, Camilla advised trustees, corporate groups, investors and insurers on a wide range of pensions related matters. She has advised on all aspects of the establishment and administration of defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes, including master trusts; participation in public sector schemes; auto-enrolment; transfers to the Pension Protection Fund; and pension risk transfers to insurers. After leaving private practice in March 2024 Camilla joined TPO as a Senior Lawyer.
Camilla has been a regular speaker at conferences and webinars organised by the Association of Pension Lawyers, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, the Society of Pension Professionals, White Paper Conferences and the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. She’s authored the pensions chapter to Tolley’s Insolvency Law Service, LexisNexis note on DB Consolidation and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales guide on Auto-enrolment.
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Deborah Evans
Chair, Corporate Board
Deborah Evans was appointed as Chair of TPO by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in July 2025, and brings extensive leadership, governance and transformation experience from the public and regulatory sectors to the role.
Deborah is currently Director and Chief Executive of Lawyers in Local Government. She also serves as a non-executive Director and Chair of the compliance Committee at the Property Ombudsman.
Deborah started her career in local government, and she has since gone on to work in senior roles across the legal sector, including as a Practice Director of a law firm and in management at the Legal Aid Board. She has held Chief Executive roles at the Legal Complaints Service (the precursor to the Legal Ombudsman), and at the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Deborah has significant experience in driving innovation in the delivery of services and has contributed to the development of digital claims resolution platforms such as Claims Portal and MedCo. She is also a passionate advocate for good governance, co-producing the Code of Practice on Good Governance which set expectations for good governance in local government.
Outside of her professional roles, Deborah is Chair of Trent College in Nottingham. She is also deeply involved in her local community.
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Emir Feisal JP
Non-Executive Director, Corporate Board
Emir Feisal JP was appointed as Non-Executive Director at The Pensions Ombudsman in May 2021.
Emir is a Chartered Accountant and a specialist in transformational change and Essential Resource Planning. The majority of his career was spent at the Sunday Times as Associate Managing Editor for this leading Sunday Paper.
He is a Commissioner for the Judicial Appointments Commission, which selects candidates for judicial office in Courts and tribunals. He is also a Magistrate for the Central London Bench for both the adult and family Courts with Appeal sittings at Crown Courts including the Old Bailey.
Emir is at present, a board member and Audit Chair of the Serious Fraud Office, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency, the Honours Committee, and is a trustee of The Henry Smith Charity, one of the largest grant makers in the UK.
He has held non-executive board member positions with the Royal Parks Agency, Bar Tribunal Adjudication Service, Lambeth Clinical Commission group, London Metropolitan University, South West London and St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, amongst others.
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Myfanwy Barrett CB
Non-Executive Director, Corporate Board
Myfanwy Barrett CB was appointed as a Non-Executive Director at The Pensions Ombudsman in May 2021.
Myfanwy is a qualified accountant (CPFA) and her executive career was in public finance – she was Corporate Director of Finance at Harrow Council and, more recently, Managing Director of Corporate Services at the House of Commons. She has experience of leading a wide range of services, including the MPs’ pension scheme and local government pension scheme, strategic planning, people, and portfolio management.
Myfanwy now works as a Non-Executive Director. She is on the board of Ocean Housing, Chair of the Tate St Ives Members Committee, and Treasurer of Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange and Morrab Library.
In all these roles she has significantly improved governance, developed the financial strategy, and championed diversity and inclusion.
In 2018 Myfanwy was awarded the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Companion (CB) for exemplary civilian merit.
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Robert Branagh
Non-Executive Director, Corporate Board
Robert Branagh was appointed as a Non-Executive Director at The Pensions Ombudsman in May 2021.
Robert is a pensions professional with an extensive business background, largely in outsourcing and financial services. He has worked for trustee, not for profit, private equity owned, and insurance businesses over the last 30 years. Robert helped transition the Office of the Paymaster General from a public to a private sector outsourcing business in the late 1990s and worked with Cabinet Office to establish the joint venture which became My CSP. He has also managed the back office or pension functions for several large pension schemes, including the NHS, Civil Service, Royal Mail Statutory scheme, and the Railways Pension Scheme. He was the CEO of the London Pensions Fund Authority, a £6.5bn fund within the LGPS. He is also a Non-Executive Director at the Local Pensions Partnership Administration limited and the Ministry of Defence where he chairs the Armed Forces Pension Schemes. He is also a Trustee of the Creative Pensions Trust Master trust and a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute.
He is a frequent speaker at pensions and employee benefits events and is a regular contributor to the UK pensions industry press. He is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute and has been both Chair and President during his service there. He is also an Accredited Member of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees.
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Robert Loughlin
Chief Operating Officer
Robert Loughlin is Chief Operating Officer at The Pensions Ombudsman and joined in January 2024.
Robert manages the casework and corporate service functions at The Pensions Ombudsman. He is a member of both the Executive and the Corporate Board.
Robert's previous role was at the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) as the Executive Director of Operations and Performance. During his time at the SRA, he oversaw the transformation of the organisation's operational work, delivering significant improvements in both the timeliness and levels of customer service of operational work.
Prior to that, Robert was an Assistant Director at the General Medical Council (GMC) for 10 years, where he led operational and change management functions, including the GMC’s fitness to practise investigation and enforcement operation.
Robert has an MBA from Kingston University and began his career as a graduate trainee and then store manager at Marks and Spencer Plc, before moving into the world of professional regulation in the late 1990s.
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Claire Ryan
Legal Director
Claire Ryan is Legal Director at The Pensions Ombudsman and also a member of the Executive Board and the Corporate Board.
Claire leads the Legal Team (which includes technical pensions specialists). The Legal Team advises on jurisdiction, casework, litigation, policy and pensions legislation. Claire joined The Pensions Ombudsman in November 1999 as a lawyer, and then moved to Head of Legal, before being appointed as Legal Director in February 2016.
Prior to joining The Pensions Ombudsman, Claire trained as a solicitor at Nabarro’s (now CMS) and then worked at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the ‘employment pensions and benefits’ department, where she specialised in pensions law.
Claire is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and regularly presents and gives talks on pension law issues and the work of The Pensions Ombudsman.
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Jennifer Ryans
Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Casework)
Jennifer Ryans joined the Pensions Ombudsman in September 2023 as Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Casework). She is a member of the Executive Board and leads the Ombudsman’s casework function.
Prior to joining the Pensions Ombudsman, Jennifer was Head of Dispute Resolution at the Housing Ombudsman where she led complex casework, systemic investigations and compliance with Ombudsman orders. During her 11 years at the Housing Ombudsman Jennifer managed all of the core casework functions and has significant experience in leading teams through major organisational change and establishing a positive and supportive working culture.
Jennifer has also been a senior manager within the London Borough of Wandsworth’s housing department and worked at the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Jennifer is a qualified solicitor in England, Wales and Ireland. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the National University of Ireland, Galway.
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Claire Eadington
Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Corporate Services)
Claire Eadington joined the Pensions Ombudsman as Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Corporate Services) in December 2024. She is a member of the Executive Board. Claire is responsible for the delivery of shared services across the organisation, including Governance, Digital, HR, Finance, Communications and Engagement.
Claire has held operational leadership, governance and private office roles at Defra Arm's Length Bodies including the Environment Agency and Natural England. She has also led crisis management, strategy and programme delivery teams in the Cabinet Office, Civil Service HR and the Central Digital and Data Office.
Prior to joining TPO Claire was Chief Executive of the Patchwork Foundation, a charity that gives young people from under-represented backgrounds the skills and experience to succeed in careers in government and politics. She was a speaker at TEDxWhitehallWomen and has given talks at the Institute for Government and Civil Service Live.
Claire has a degree in Music from St Hugh’s College Oxford and a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration from Henley Business School.
Volunteering with us
We have a volunteer network of over 200 pension professionals who volunteer with us. Volunteering is a great opportunity to broaden your pension knowledge. You will get different types of cases such as overpayments, delays, ill health and death benefits.
Steve Webb, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Steve was the Government’s Pensions Minister from 2010 to 2015. He served as an MP for 18 years, helping his constituents to deal with their pension issues and lobbying for improvements in pension administration. He has been a volunteer for three years. Steve chose to become a volunteer because he wanted to continue to help people with their individual pension disputes, something he missed when he stopped being an MP in 2015. He found the initial volunteer mentoring to be a huge advantage. And feels the training and support offered by The Pensions Ombudsman staff is a great way to keep updated with the ongoing changes to pensions. Steve enjoys being a volunteer and likes the feeling that he has improved someone’s situation by helping them to understand and make better sense of their pension issues. He feels his efforts are always appreciated, especially knowing that he is a volunteer when people seem to value his help even more.
“It’s an amazing feeling when you help someone who has been stuck by using your knowledge and connections.”
Angela Sharma, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Angela is a pensions lawyer with over 20 years experience, and has been a volunteer for 14 years. Angela wanted to become a volunteer at The Pensions Ombudsman to use her knowledge and experience to help people resolve their disputes, especially when they don’t feel they are getting anywhere and to demystify pensions for them. Her personal goals are to deliver a great service and in doing so hopefully restore and maintain confidence in pensions. She finds the team at The Pensions Ombudsman very friendly and approachable, offering regular practical workshops and face to face sessions. Angela highlights the variety of technical and practical updates available to volunteers, and the opportunity to share opinions with other volunteers at the seminars, workshops and training sessions as very useful. Angela enjoys seeing issues from a different perspective and understanding what complainants really care about. She finds that people are really grateful for the help she provides which is massively rewarding. She also appreciates dealing with cases in a balanced and impartial way and finds engaging with the team at The Pensions Ombudsman fulfilling.
“Being a volunteer within The Pensions Ombudsman professional framework makes you feel part of a very special organisation.”
Gareth Stears, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Gareth has worked in the industry for over 13 years as an administrator, an analyst, and for the last two as a technical consultant with Aries Insight – a pensions legislation resource. He is an associate member of the Pensions Management Institute and has completed their Advanced Diploma in Retirement Provision. Having volunteered at The Pensions Advisory Service for over three years, he re-joined with The Pensions Ombudsman as a volunteer following a career break. Gareth wanted to become a volunteer to expand his industry knowledge, whilst doing something different and adding to his CV and experience. He believes the training and support offered by The Pensions Ombudsman to be exceedingly useful, covering a broad spectrum of topics. And that there are some impressive people amongst our volunteers who are willing to come forward and share their knowledge.
“It’s always fun getting a new file. A case file is like a good story, only you get to help write the ending.”
Jeffrey Highfield, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Jeffrey is a retired pensions professional with a speciality in the financial management of pension schemes. In 2005 he joined the Pension Protection Fund, working in its finance team until his retirement in 2018. He is also a member of the Pensions Research Accountants Group which is recognised by the Financial Reporting Council as the appropriate industry organisation to issue Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) for pension scheme financial statements. Jeffrey has been a volunteer since the 1980s and originally joined to expand his knowledge of the pensions industry. He thinks the training and support offered by The Pensions Ombudsman is relevant and well thought through. He most enjoys being able to reassure people and make sure that they are dealt with fairly, through giving his input and guidance.
“It’s an amazing feeling to give back and help people to understand the process and simplify all the jargon.”
Kay Prestidge, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Kay has over 20 years’ experience in the pensions industry. Starting in financial services, she developed a passion for pensions when she moved to Scottish Equitable (now AEGON) and had the opportunity to develop her technical knowledge. She has a Diploma in Financial Planning, Certificate in Pension Simplification, Award in Pensions Update and the Certificate in Life and Pensions. She decided to become a volunteer as she wanted to use the knowledge she had built up to help others who may have problems with their pensions. It gave her the chance to give a little back while continuing to develop professionally. She has been a volunteer since August 2017. Kay thinks the training offered by The Pensions Ombudsman is excellent and values the support that she gets from her Regional Organiser and mentor. She enjoys volunteering because she can look at pensions from a different perspective to her day job. She likes being able to ensure people are treated fairly or to help people understand what they have and how it works.
“It is so satisfying when you get to really help someone who needed it.”
Kulsum Begum, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Kulsum has 16 years’ experience of the pensions industry, working with various banks and Fidelity Investments. For the last six years she has worked as an independent financial adviser for a private wealth company focused on pensions. Kulsum became a volunteer as she “loves giving advice and guidance to people”. She wanted to do this through a regulated channel as she considers this to be the best way to help people with their pensions. She finds the training and support offered by The Pensions Ombudsman to be very good and was particularly pleased to get training and support related to money purchase pensions which is her speciality. Kulsum enjoys the networking opportunities of being a volunteer and being able to share experiences and knowledge with other volunteers.
“One of the things I enjoy most about volunteering is being able to expand my own personal skill set through the guidance of more experienced volunteers and being able to help others with my knowledge.”
Roger Gould, TPO Volunteer Advisor
Roger has worked in the pensions industry for over 40 years. As a pensions and employee benefits professional, he has experience in all aspects of company sponsored defined benefits/final salary and defined contributions plans. Before he retired in 2004, he worked for Mercer UK for 34 years. He has been a volunteer since 1993 and was drawn to volunteering so that he could put his extensive experience of different aspects of UK pensions to good use. Throughout his career, he spent a great deal of time dealing directly with pension scheme members and has a good understanding of what the most common concerns are. He wanted to give back by helping people resolve their pension issues. There are many reasons Roger enjoys volunteering especially getting to the real reason and responsibilities that created the complaint and being able to resolve it at an early stage. He also appreciates working with colleagues who have high levels of professionalism.
“I have a feeling of personal satisfaction because I am using my skills to resolve the pension problems of others.”
Want to work with us?
See what current opportunities are available to join our team.