The Capita Group Plc (Capita) has signed a contract with The Pensions Regulator to support its direct communications with employers for automatic enrolment ofstaff into workplace pension schemes which will be phased in from October 2012.The seven-year contract has an option for the regulator to extend it for afurther three years and has an estimated value of £105 million.

The contract will commence from October 2011.The new requirements for employers to automatically enrol staff into work place pensions will be introduced gradually, on a `staged' basis from October 2012 toSeptember 2016, depending on employer size.

The Pensions Regulator will communicate with over 1 million employers as part of its role to maximise compliance with automatic enrolment. Under its agreement, Capita will take onthe responsibility for delivering high-volume employer communications and transactional processes in relation to new requirements.

Chief Executive of The Pensions Regulator Bill Galvin said: 'Helping more than 1m employers to get ready for automatic enrolment over thenext five years is a major challenge. We will provide high-quality information to every employer in the country, making it as simple as possible to comply.'Working with Capita will enable us to make a rapid transition to providing information to tens of thousands of small and micro businesses each month - as well as supporting them by dealing with their calls and questions - whilst continuing to focus on our role regulating the pensions industry.'