Honda Motor Europe Ltd & Anor v Powell & Anor [2014] EWCA Civ 437 (11 April 2014)

Honda Motor Europe Ltd & Anor v Powell & Anor [2014] EWCA Civ 437 (11 April 2014) is noteworthy because it has a pretty obvious motor industry angle. Apart from the obvious, though, it's about Honda's group pension scheme, which until
Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd ("HUM")
 appeared on the scene had only one company member. The case concerned the interpretation of the manufacturing company's  Deed of Adherence dated 6 October 1986 by which it became a participating employer in the scheme and membership of the scheme was opened to its employees. The question for the Court was whether the Deed of Adherence conferred scale benefits on the HUM members which differed from (and were much less generous than) those in the existing scheme, or whether further documentation was required to produce that result. This turned on the meaning of the provision in clause 1 of the Deed of Adherence which stated that:

"[HME] … hereby extends the benefits of the Scheme to all eligible employees and directors of [HUM] with effect from [1 August 1986]"

The judge at first instance held that it did not confer those scale benefits, and on appeal the Court of Appeal agreed, dismissing the appeal. Important, certainly (£47 million at stake) and interesting if pension schemes are your thing - but not really the sort of subject we need to cover in depth here.