Farewell to Mac Podmore

ASCL said farewell to our long-serving Pensions Consultant, Mac Podmore, on 31 March. Typically, though, Mac has stayed beyond this deadline, helping out while his successor finishes his current post.

It is Mac's final task to see in the new Teachers' Pensions Scheme proposals, which are the culmination of an enormous amount of hard work and discussion between the DfES, the employers and the unions. He has been instrumental in helping to secure a very attractive package. (See page 12 for details.)

Mac has quietly and efficiently handled hundreds of members' enquiries, and has elicited numerous expressions of thanks. We have lost count of the number of 'satisfied customer' letters received, mostly from members who have benefited financially - often significantly - from Mac's advice.

We wish him well in his second retirement, to enjoy his golf and his holidays in his beloved cottage in Yorkshire.

We also look forward to welcoming Mac's successor, David Blake, who will take over officially on 1 September when he finishes his tenure at Havering Sixth Form College in Essex.