… as top executives take home millions in bumper bonuses and share packages
TOP BT executives received bumper bonuses yesterday, pouring petrol on the fires of unrest among the firm’s rank and file.
Chief executive Ian Livingston topped up his £850,000 basic salary with a bonus of £1.2m. He also qualifies for £1.2m in shares that he can collect in three year’s time. He was offered a six per cent pay rise this year, three times the increase being offered to staff, but will take only two per cent of this. He will donate the extra £33,000 to charity. BT argues Livingston met a series of stringent financial targets before the bonus kicked in. In 2009 he cashed in a bonus of £343,000.
Retail chief executive Gavin Patterson almost doubled his £500,000 basic pay with a bonus of £487,000. He will also see his salary rise by five per cent.
Group finance director Tony Chanmugam will take a bonus of £463,000 on top of his £475,000 salary and rake in an extra seven per cent a year in basic pay.
Perhaps most contentious is the bonus of £503,000 being paid to former chief executive of the firm’s embattled Global Services department, Hanif Lalani. He lasted just 15 months at the division before leaving in January. He had previously been at the firm for 26 years.
BT says the bonuses will not be distributed solely to executives but will go out to 30,000 staff.