Auto-enrolment began for the largest employers with more than 120,000 employees last October and will continue until September 2016. 
Nest (National Employment Savings Trust) is currently working with over 300 employers with 100 being in the first stages of implementation of auto-enrolment.
Speaking at the Institute of Directors conference today, Mr Jones said: "From our experience with employers, it is clear that they need to give themselves as much time as possible to get ready. We recommend up to 18 months and advise they pull together a team from across the organisation who can help them meet their duties."
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He said there was a need for firms to get the "right data in the right format" and ensure they work in sync with payroll providers and in-house teams to get the right results.
It was all the more vital for employers to start their preparations as pension providers would get busier as the next staging data approached and no longer have the ability to "handhold" firms through the process.
He said: "Preparing for this, Nest has developed an enhancement to their online offering that provides payroll teams, employers and IFAs with an easy way to transact with Nest through exchange of files."

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