Savills chief executive Jeremy Helsby takes home £2.2m after record year
The property market may be something of a minefield to navigate currently, with supply pressures and low interest rates on the one hand and the mortgage market review and the threat of new taxes on the other.
But there are no jitters at upmarket estate agent Savills, which awarded its executive directors a healthy jump in pay last year, and plans to increase their 2015 salaries.
Savills' chief executive Jeremy Helsby took home £2.2m in “near term remuneration” last year, a 14 per cent rise on 2013.
Chief financial officer Simon Shaw received £1.67m, up from £1.48m last year.
The increase was down to the rise in annual profit share, following the agency's record results posted last month.
However the pair, whose long-term awards have risen to £3m and £2.1m respectively, have not had a pay rise in five years “while the size and complexity of the business now has grown significantly”, said the remuneration committee chairman Tim Freshwater.
As a result, the pair's respective base salaries for the current financial year will also jump. Helsby's will climb from £225,000 to £275,000 while Shaw will receive £210,000, up from £175,000.
Freshwater added: “The base salaries for the executive directors will continue to be positioned significantly below market median against the FTSE 250 and overseas comparable companies in accordance with our established approach.
“Given the structure of our incentive arrangements, unlike other listed companies, the salary increase will have little impact on the incentive opportunity, as the maximum annual performance related profit share is not based on a percentage of salary.”