Tesco boss turns down bonus

THE HEAD of the supermarket giant, Tesco, took responsibility for the organisation’s dismal UK trading today by spurning his annual bonus worth £372,000.

Philip Clarke, who receives an annual salary of £1.1 million, was in line to pick up 13.54 per cent of the maximum possible payout but said he decided earlier this year that he would not be accepting an award.

He said: “I wasn’t satisfied with the performance in the UK and I won’t take the bonus. I’m confident that we’re tackling the right issues and building a better Tesco for customers, colleagues, shareholders.”

Tesco confirmed that 5,000 managers saw their bonuses cut to 16.9 per cent of the maximum payable but that an estimated 225,000 staff will share a bonus pot of more than £110 million for the last year.

The cash bonus, which will be paid in 2015, is likely to be worth 3.6 per cent of earnings for each eligible member of staff.

In the last five years, Tesco has awarded more than £500 million in the employee bonus scheme.