Uniq, a mid-market UK dairy-foods producer that has been struggling for several years with an underfunded pension scheme that is several times bigger than the company itself, has agreed an innovative profit-share arrangement with the trustees.

Under the new deal, Uniq will make only minimal contributions to the fund until 2013, giving it more control over its cashflow. It will put aside £5m (€5.7m) a year to help fund liability-management and risk-reduction programmes at the scheme, however.