Tesco boss Ken Murphy took £1m pay rise in grocer’s bumper year Retail Ken Murphy, the boss of Tesco, took a more-than £1m pay rise this year, bringing his total pay packet to £10.8m in the year the grocer solidified its dominant position in the market. The chief executive of the supermarket giant’s total pay packet for the 2025/26 year included £1.5m in basic pay, a £3.4m bonus [...]
Next boss Simon Wolfson takes record £7.4m pay packet Retail Next boss Simon Wolfson took home a bumper £7.4m pay packet last year, as his best-ever pay day could be beaten by next year’s £9.3m – if the firm meets growth targets. Wolfson’s total pay soared from £4.9m the year before, as he took £967k in basic pay and more than £6m in bonuses. The [...]
Shell chief reportedly set for £4.5m pay boost Energy The boss of Shell will reportedly receive a multimillion-pound remuneration incentive, with the firm poised to reveal a new boardroom pay policy. According to reports, the firm’s chief executive Wael Sawan would pocket at least £4.5m more each year. Sky News‘ Mark Kleinman has reported that investor sources have revealed a long-term incentive stock reward [...]
Fat Cats or Top Dogs? In defence of high CEO pay January 15, 2026 Every year in January the High Pay Centre (they’re “an independent, non-partisan think tank focused on the causes and consequences of economic inequality, with a particular interest in top pay,” since you asked) releases its Fat Cat report, pointing out the day on which a top CEO’s earnings surpass the median UK salary. This year, [...]
FTSE 100 defence stocks boosted by Trump’s calls for military spending hike January 8, 2026 Shares in top FTSE 100 defence stocks were boosted on Thursday morning, following President Trump’s push for a 50 per cent boost to the US military budget. BAE Systems shares shot up 6.7 per cent following the market open to highs not seen since October, while Babcock rose by more than 2.2 per cent. President [...]
Time to get relaxed about high executive pay December 10, 2025 This week Anglo American walked back on a plan that would have seen its chief executive handed a tasty bonus for the completion of its merger with Teck after investor backlash. Shareholders may have had well-reasoned objections to a scheme that would have dealt boss Duncan Wanblad an award amounting to almost two-thirds of his [...]
AIM directors ruffle shareholder feathers with exec pay shenanigans August 7, 2025 It’s not just Tesla awarding eye-watering pay to execs. Even the bosses of the smallest of small caps are finding novel ways to boost their remuneration. That appears to be the case for the directors of AIM-listed property company DCI Advisors. In October 2023, DCI proposed an incentive plan which, by the calculations of the [...]
FTSE 100 pay revolts double as race with US rivals heats up July 4, 2025 Shareholder rebellions against FTSE 100 executives’ bumper paydays more than doubled in the first half of 2025 as companies boosted pay in a battle to compete with US giants. Pay revolts were up 120 per cent in the first six months of the year as the likes of Melrose, British Gas-owner Centrica and Univelever faced [...]
Higher executive pay is not a silver bullet for UK competitiveness March 4, 2025 Whilst competitive pay is undoubtedly a factor in attracting and retaining talent, it is rarely the sole, or even a major, determinant of a company’s decision to list in a particular market, says Paul Arathoon The recent moves by some of the FTSE 100’s largest companies, such as British American Tobacco and Compass Group, to [...]
FTSE bosses should be paid like top footballers, says ICAP founder December 11, 2024 Bosses of London-listed firms should be paid like the best footballers without facing a backlash, Michael Spencer has argued. The founder of brokerage ICAP and former Conservative party Treasurer said that to attract top talent to run major companies, the UK needed to tackle the “political hot potato” of FTSE bosses’ pay. “We don’t mind [...]