Average boardroom pay jumps 12% to hit £2.6m

Published on Monday 1 October 2007 12:17

TOP boardroom executives are now earning more than 100 times the average UK salary, a new pay report revealed today.

The average total remuneration for a chief executive of a FTSE 100 firm has increased by 12 per cent in the past year, four times the average rise in earnings, to over 2.6m million, helped by hefty bonuses.

One of the UK's biggest earners was Giles Thorley, chief executive of Scotland's biggest pub group, Punch Taverns, who earned a pay package worth 11m.

Of those still in position, income rose 16 per cent, steeply ahead of last year's nine per cent rise, according to the figures by accountancy firm KPMG.

Even chief executives at the smaller FTSE 250 firms could expect a total package of just over 1m, up from 878,000 in 2006.

The UK's biggest corporate earner was Bob Diamond of Barclays Capital, who earned 22.9m last year. Bart Brecht, chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, received 22m, while Lord Browne, formerly of BP, took home 11m.

Mary Carter, a partner at KPMG, said:

"Will 2008 be the year in which more companies put their heads above the parapet and implement bold remuneration strategies that really encourage stellar performance?"

The FTSE-100 company directors earned combined earnings worth 515m last year, enough to exceed the gross domestic product of some small countries.

It is expected boardroom pay will see much smaller increases in the next 12 months, due to concerns about financial markets.