It is exactly 18 months tomorrow that a brave new world for the UK's workplace pension system gets underway, we were reminded today, by two advisory firms working in the field. Their figures suggest that two-fifths of the country's pension funds have yet to even start getting ready.

From next October, the consultancy Hymans Robertson reminded us this morning, UK companies will be required, by law, to offer pension plans to their workforce. The legal obligation falls on firms in several waves out to around 2017; the biggest firms first, then mid-sized employers, and finally the very smallest companies.