The Trustee have a duty to look after and Scheme and make sure that the right benefits are paid to the right people at the right time. The Trustee is a mix of Tesco colleagues - who are also members of the Scheme - and independent professional trustees. Please see below for more information about each Trustee.
Ruston Smith
Chair
Ruston has over 35 years experience in the pension fund and investment industry.
He was the former Group Pensions, Insurable Risk and People Director at Tesco and CEO of Tesco Pension Investment Ltd - FCA approved in house investment manager.
Ruston is now the Chair of the Tesco Pension Fund (DB and DC) and Tesco Pension Investment Ltd, Non Exec Chair of JP Morgan Asset Management (EMEA), Non Exec Chair of Smart Pension Ltd, Non Exec Chair of PTL Ltd, Non Exec Director of the Pensions Management Institute, Independent Trustee and Chair of the Funding and Investment Committee for the BAE Pension Fund, Governor of the PPI and Chair of GroceryAid.
Ruston is on the Bank of England, Treasury and FCA’s Steering Group on Investment in Productive Finance and is also involved with other industry initiatives.
He was Co Chair of the DWP’s 2017 Auto Enrolment Review Board, led the Simpler Annual Statement initiative launched in 2018, chaired the cross regulator and industry ‘Standardised Assumptions Group’, and was on the Treasury’s Patient Capital DC Steering Group. He’s also a former Chair of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.
Mitesh Bagoban
Director appointed from the colleague and pensioner membership
Head of Finance - UK & ROI Finance - Product
Mitesh is a Chartered Accountant and joined Tesco in October 2012 after a varied career in Audit and Management Consultancy. During his time at Tesco he has worked across several business areas. Mitesh joined the Trustee Board in 2018.
Laura Booker
Director appointed from the colleague and pensioner membership
Senior Comms Manager, Group Comms
Laura has worked for Tesco since 1994, initially working part time while at University. Since then she’s held a number of positions in stores, from colleague to store manager. She is now Senior Comms Manager in Group Comms.
Laura lives in Surrey with her husband, two teenage sons, and their spaniel, Cody. In her spare time she enjoys running, pilates and long dog walks.
Laura joined the Trustee Board in July 2023.
Alison Cheung
Director appointed by principal employer
UK & ROI People Director
Alison is an experienced Finance professional with over 20 years’ experience.
Starting her career at Accenture, she joined Tesco in 2003 and has enjoyed a number of roles within the Finance function. Alison was promoted to Product Finance Director in 2018 where she provided effective finance leadership across the Product division, and in 2025 was appointed as UK & ROI People Director.
Alison is a qualified Management Accountant and has a BA in History from the University of Birmingham.
Steve Rigby
Director appointed by principal employer
Former Chief Property Officer
Before joining Tesco, Steve worked in Healey & Baker (now Cushman & Wakefield) as a Partner. He joined Tesco as Asset and Estates Director UK in 1995. He moved to the role of European Property Director in 2001 and returned to the UK as Property Director in 2006. He was appointed the Chief Property Officer of Tesco China in May 2012 returning to the UK two years later as Chief Property Officer with overall responsibility and accountability for Tesco Property over both UK and International markets.
Sharon Kyte
People Business Partner - UK Stores & Hospitality
Sharon has worked for Tesco for 30 years, joining as a graduate in Abingdon Extra and working in different people partnering roles across the Group. Sharon is currently the People Business Partner for UK Stores and Hospitality.
Sharon joined the Trustee Board in May 2025. Sharon says: “I’m delighted to have joined the Trustee Board, to help make the right decisions on behalf of our members and ensure the long-term sustainability of the pension scheme.”
Sharon lives in Staffordshire with her 2 boys and outside of work enjoys swimming indoors and outdoors, holidays and spending time with family and friends.
Emma Taylor
Director appointed by principal employer
Chief People Officer and a member of the Executive Committee for Tesco PLC
Emma was appointed as the Chief People Officer and a member of the Executive Committee for Tesco PLC in March 2022 having been the UK and ROI People Director since June 2018. As Chief People Officer Emma is a Trustee of the Tesco Pension scheme as well as an advisor to both the Tesco Board and the Renumeration, Nominations & Governance Committee.
Emma joined Tesco in 2001 as part of the Graduate programme. Her career to date has seen Emma work across the business including Large stores, Convenience, Distribution and Head Office. Emma has been very involved in Tesco's commitment to young people and a range of related programmes throughout her career, including Movement to Work.
Emma lives in Birmingham with her husband, Mark, and two young children, Freddie and Charlie.
Kevin Tindall
Director appointed by principal employer
Managing Director - Large Stores
Currently Managing Director for Large Stores, Kevin brings a tremendous amount of experience and expertise, having worked within Tesco Group for nearly 35 years. After starting his career in Large Stores, he worked across the UK, including Store & Business Support Director roles. In 2011, Kevin was appointed Chief Operating Officer in Slovakia, before moving to the same role in Korea and then across Central Europe. He returned to the UK in 2019, and became Managing Director for our Convenience Format, Business Support and Group Safety.
Kevin is married, has two teenage boys and lives in Cambridgeshire.
Natalie Winterfrost
Independent Trustee Director of Law Debenture Corporation Ltd
An experienced actuary, Natalie has considerable investment consulting and asset management experience, gained over more than 25 years.
As a Trustee, she has taken a leading role in the industry, helping large schemes address Environmental, social and Governance (ESG) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) issues. While her investment expertise is sought out for Investment Committee roles, she has a broad interest in all matters pensions and represents LawDeb on everything from Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) working groups to discretions committees. Her trustee boards range in size, from sub-£100m right up to the very largest pension funds.
Before joining LawDeb, Natalie worked at Abrdn, with a particular focus on helping clients to structure liability-aware solutions. Prior to that, Natalie managed PwC's London Investment Consulting team and led the delivery of advice on all aspects of investment consulting to pension scheme trustees and other institutions.
Natalie is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder and CFA UK Fellow. She is also a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and has a Joint Honours degree in Mathematics & Economics from Bristol University.