The High Pay Centre has published its annual survey of FTSE 100 CEO pay which has revealed that the average CEO took home £5.48 million last year. This represents a 10 per cent increase on the £4.96 million average for 2014. In contrast, the Office for National Statistics reports that the average weekly wage for all UK employees grew by just 1.9 per cent.
Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, said: "There is apparently no end yet in sight to the rise and rise of FTSE 100 CEO pay packages. In spite of the occasional flurry from more active shareholders, boards continue to award ever larger amounts of pay to their most senior executives."
The High Pay Centre acknowledges that the figures are skewed slightly by a couple of very large increases but the results only amplify attention on the ongoing debate regarding senior executive pay. Theresa May referred to this issue in her leadership campaign where she pledged to build a Britain "that works for everyone, not just the privileged few".
Mrs May has committed to making shareholder votes on corporate pay "not just advisory, but binding". We await details on how the law will change so that shareholders can influence actual levels of senior executive pay each year and whether the proposal that shareholders will be able to veto any pay packages that they consider are "undeserved" will come to fruition.
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