Fury at £5m for Standard Life bosses

UNION anger was mounting today after it was revealed three of Standard Life's top executives were awarded more than £5 million in pay just a month after the company announced 1000 job cuts.

Sandy Crombie, the Edinburgh-based finance giant's chief executive, received 2.2m, a rise of 871,000 on 2005. Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Investments received just under 2m, including bonuses of 1.5m, and Trevor Matthews, the Australian UK retail chief, received 1.3m in 2006.

The rises, highlighted in the company's annual report, were described as "scandalous" by unions today. They come as the company is in the midst of a 100m cost-cutting programme. Last month it was announced that there would be a further 1000 job losses, adding to the 4500 posts cut since 2004. Around 7500 of the firm's workforce is based in Edinburgh.

Willie Gibson, regional officer at financial workers' union Amicus said: "It is another reprehensible action from the senior people at Standard Life."

A Standard Life spokesman said: "These men have overseen a turnaround that is among the most dramatic in the history of the financial services industry."