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PEPA’s website is scheduled to close
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PEPA was founded in 1963 as an association for ex-employees of UK Philips companies who had reached retirement age. With diminished finance, and falling numbers, it will close at the end of 2025.
Standing Ken Rolaston, David Fanshawe, Tony Slaymaker, Ray Headon, Richard Stow, Aubrey Dunford
Seated Pat Belchamber, Margaret Brantom, Phil Lloyd
In bidding members “Farewell” and closing the Association, we thought it a good time to look back at PEPA’s history. The following article attempts to capture the main activities over the Association’s lifetime, and we hope you find it interesting.
A History of PEPA
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The Philips Electronics Pensioners Association, or PEPA, was founded in 1963 by staff who had retired from Mullard Mitcham. This is an account of the Association’s 62 years, until its closure at the end of 2025. |
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PEPA was formed to foster ongoing social connections for staff who had worked for Philips UK at any company site south of a line through Birmingham, or who lived in that area, and who had retired with a company pension. There were other associations looking after the interests of Philips pensioners in the north of England and Scotland. Support for PEPA (both financial, and in the way of facilities) from Mullard, and later Philips UK, was outstanding. Without it, the Association couldn’t have functioned in the way it did.
Apart from its main social aims, PEPA served as a means of keeping up to date on the company’s performance, and how this might affect pensions. Close contact was kept with the Philips Pensioners Committee (PPC), the official interface between pensioners and the company.
Two initiatives were put in place very quickly: an Annual Reunion, and a regular Newsletter. These were made possible by generous financial support from Philips, along with payment of a lifetime PEPA membership subscription when retirees joined. The first Reunion took place in October 1963, attended by a total of 176 pensioners and 76 guests. The guest of honour was Stanley Mullard, MBE, founder of the Mullard Radio Valve company.
At first, PEPA Newsletters appeared very frequently, before settling down to three a year. They included news of PEPA activities, members’ milestone birthdays, obituaries, company news, and articles on topics of interest to people of retirement age. In the early days the Newsletter was typewritten, and largely unillustrated. It was printed in-house by Philips, who also covered postal costs.
Another activity which PEPA put in place was to send every member a birthday card on certain milestone birthdays, and similarly for wedding anniversaries when the date was known.
1976 saw the launch of the Philips Electronics Benevolent Association, or PEPBA, a registered charity whose aim was to provide one-off grants to PEPA members who were experiencing financial difficulty. Its funds were mainly derived from donations by members.
In the early years, a network of PEPA Local Agents was established. They were PEPA members who volunteered to be a source of practical help for members in their area, or simply to provide company for those living alone. Some agents organised local get-togethers. In all, over twenty people filled this role, covering Cornwall to North Humberside, and even including the Isle of Wight.
Over the years, membership numbers steadily grew, peaking at over 4,900 in 2003. While, of course, the majority of members lived in the UK, there were also members in over twenty countries worldwide.
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Numbers attending Annual Reunions grew in like manner, and larger venues were needed, such as the Lakeside complex at Frimley Green, Surrey. In 1984, 848 people attended, and that wasn’t the largest. Philips UK generously covered most of the cost, so that members went free, and guest tickets were subsidised. Philips would also bring a product display, and donate a Philips product as the main raffle prize. |
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With the general rise in public use of Internet facilities such as email and the Worldwide Web, it became clear that PEPA should have its own website. An increasing number of retirees joining PEPA were already familiar with such things from work, though it was always recognised that many older members wouldn’t be. The PEPA website was launched in August 2007, with company financial support, its aim being to act as a first port of call for any member wishing to keep up to date with PEPA activities, and access other relevant news. And it might serve to introduce potential new members to the Association.
As Newsletters could be downloaded from the website, an immediate effect was a reduction in the printing and postal costs borne by Philips. Another website benefit was that full colour pictures could easily be made available. This worked well for Annual Reunions as members could view the many photos taken, which could number several hundred, without waiting till the next Reunion.
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Of course, members who preferred their Newsletters to be posted to them were always catered for. For each edition, a large group of PEPA committee members and helpers would gather together at “stuffing sessions”, folding many hundreds of Newsletters and putting them into envelopes. The photo shows one of these at the Philips UK Head Office, then in Guildford. |
At its peak, running PEPA took a committee of up to seventeen people. A separate subcommittee, with other helpers, managed the Annual Reunions. Over the years, meetings were held in various venues, sometimes on Philips sites, and at other times at the premises of the Philips Pension Fund administrators, or elsewhere. The same applied to PEPA and PEPBA AGMs.
From around the year 2000, and possibly before, the number of people retiring from Philips UK each year was on a downward trend, which impacted PEPA’s intake of new members. Alongside this was a constant reduction in membership caused by the inevitability of older members passing away. The net fall was around 110 members per year, and the average age of the membership was rising year on year.
It became clear that the Annual Reunions would need to move to a smaller venue, and a number of possibilities were investigated. The outcome was that from 2010, Reunions took place at Denbies Wine Estate, near Dorking in Surrey. This proved to be an excellent choice, and over the years a very good relationship was established with the event organising team there.
Following a long period of declining profitability, in 2015-16 the global Philips company was restructured into two businesses: HealthTech and Lighting. For PEPA, a significant effect of this was that Philips UK, along with other national organisations, had to reduce every expenditure it could. This resulted in all financial and other support for PEPA ceasing. This would clearly have a major effect on two of PEPA’s main activities: the Newsletter would have to be printed by an external company, with all publishing and postal costs paid for by the Association and, if the Reunions were to continue, attendance would have to be charged for. In recognition of the effect on PEPA, Philips UK provided a very generous “parting gift” to bolster the Association’s finances, and help it to survive longer than it would have done otherwise.
The PEPA website was largely unaffected by this, and in fact became a key factor in reducing the Association’s running costs. As postal and other costs rose, each edition of the Newsletter was costing around £2,000. A drive to encourage members to download their Newsletters from the website was taken up by a third of the membership, creating a significant saving. Additionally, the number of Newsletters per year was reduced from three to two. Over the next few years, many members made generous donations to help keep posted Newsletters available. Employing external printer “Premier Print”, a much more professional-looking publication was possible, and the use of colour was standard.
In 2016, the first non-subsidised Reunion took place at Denbies, with a reasonable charge for all members and their guests. It was pleasing that PEPA could keep these running in such significantly changed circumstances.
Another aspect of Philips restructuring was the decision to wind up the UK Philips Pension Fund. During 2016, it was transferred to three external companies: Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), Prudential, and Rothesay. A detrimental side effect of this was that it became extremely difficult to keep PEPA’s membership records accurate and up to date, as these companies’ privacy policies restricted the personal data they could share with the Association. This meant there was no steady source of information regarding new retirees, members moving to a new address, or members passing away
In parallel with these changes, a useful relationship was established between PEPA and the Fred. Olsen cruise line. It was arranged that members would receive a 10% discount on cruises, which triggered a 5% commission for PEPA funds. With very little other income, this proved most beneficial for several years, and sometimes would more than cover the cost of a Newsletter. Unfortunately, cruise businesses were seriously hit by the pandemic, reducing this income drastically. Following some recovery, Fred. Olsen terminated the commission arrangement in 2023, and the member discount a year later.
As PEPA membership numbers continued to decline, and funds steadily reduced, it was clear that the Association had a fixed number of years left. The main issue was which of the following would happen first: membership would drop to an unviable level, or the money would run out. In 2016, 2019, and 2022, the committee (now numbering only nine people) made detailed analyses of these trends, in an attempt to forecast what the future held. The wish was to organise an orderly closing of the Association, rather than simply let it peter out in an uncontrolled manner. It had become clear that the Association’s funds would hold out till the end of 2025, so the decision was made to fix that as the date, and members were informed. The final membership was just under 2,300.
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The closure of PEPA also resulted in the closure of PEPBA, which was carried out following Charity Commission rules. Its remaining funds were transferred to the UK Philips Benevolent Fund (PBF), which has similar charitable aims, and is accessible to all UK Philips retirees. |
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The final event for members was a farewell tea party at Denbies Wine Estate on 8th October 2025, which was free of charge, and kindly supported by a financial contribution from Philips UK. The last committee meeting took place a week later.
The successful running of PEPA over 62 years has drawn on the time and skills of a large number of people. There have been many committee members during that time, assisted by a significant number of others who have willingly joined in to help. We have attempted to record the names of as many as possible of those involved, but regrettably this can never be complete. If you visit the Documents page, you’ll find a document with this information.
The PEPA website is as up-to-date and error-free as possible. However, accuracy is not guaranteed, and PEPA accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever arising. Nor is PEPA responsible for the content of external websites for which links are provided.
Website last updated: 30 Nov 2025
