No, employers generally do not have to provide a pension scheme (though there are some exceptions, for example if there has been a transfer of staff under TUPE.)
The only obligation on employers is that any employer with more than five staff must make a stakeholder pension available (or another pension that is at least as good). However, they do not have to contribute any money themselves to it.
The legal position will change from October 2012, when there will start to be a duty on employers to enrol all their staff into a pension scheme. This duty will apply only to the biggest employers to start with. You can read more about this “auto-enrolment duty” here.
