COMPANY directors in Hampshire are calling on the Government to raise the official retirement age to 68, so they can retain key staff.

Rodger Broad, regional director of the Institute of Directors (IoD), said there was a real need to reform the default retirement age.

He said: “In 1948 the pension age was set at 65 for men, when life expectancy was 66. But now people are living 20, 30 or more years into retirement.

“No employer wants to lose experienced, skilled workers simply because they have reached a certain age.”