Cameron expresses concern at scale of boardroom pay awards

David Cameron has called on company boards to act “responsibly” when making pay awards after it emerged directors at the country’s top firms have seen their salaries rise by 49 per cent in the past year.

The Prime Minister admitted new research that revealed bosses at FTSE 100 businesses were now enjoying average earnings of nearly £2.7 million was “concerning”.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg went further, saying it was as if “they’re living on another planet” and called it a “slap in the face” for millions of workers on normal incomes who are struggling to make ends meet.

Mr Cameron said yesterday: “There needs to be responsibility. Boards have got to think when they are making pay awards, is this the responsible thing to do?

“Of course you have got to attract the best talent to run the business that you are accountable for as a non-executive director, but is what you are doing responsible?

“Everyone, whether they are in public life, whether they are in private enterprise, they all need to be able to justify the decisions they make about pay.”

However, Madsen Pirie, president of libertarian think-tank the Adam Smith Institute, said: “It is good news that the rewards for Britain’s top CEOs have increased substantially on the previous year.

“Although this has been depicted as a pay increase, in fact most of it is made up of performance-related rewards such as shares and share options.”