Latest news with #JonathanAkeroyd
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Burberry pays new boss almost £2.6m in nine months while axing jobs
Burberry has paid its new chief executive, Joshua Schulman, almost £2.6m in his first nine months in the job, including £380,000 in house moving costs, as the ailing British brand announced hundreds of job cuts. The company also gave its former boss Jonathan Akeroyd a payoff worth about £1.5m – a year's notice including salary, pension and cash benefits – after he exited the company in July last year, according to the group's annual report. The former Versace boss left less than three years after he was appointed in 2021. This year Schulman could earn up to £5.6m if he meets bonus targets, excluding a £3.6m potential bonus if he doubles Burberry's share price in three years with the aim of re-entering the FTSE 100. He is also in line for a further £25,000 a month in 'housing allowance' for just over a year on top of £135,171 to help him find a new home, £120,655 towards transporting his effects from New York, where he previously lived, and five months of housing allowance already paid. In his first nine months, Schulman was given a £1.2m bonus on top of his £1.356m in fixed salary, which included the moving allowances. The chunky payments to senior directors come despite Burberry revealing plans to cut 1,700 jobs worldwide by 2027 – including removing the entire night shift of 170 people at its Yorkshire raincoat factory – in an effort to tackle sliding profits. The company disclosed the plan earlier this month when it revealed it had dived to an annual loss of £66m, from a profit of £383m a year before, as it struggled in a troubled global luxury goods industry after a series of strategic missteps. Schulman, the former boss of the US fashion brand Coach, was hired last year in an attempt to turn around Burberry's fortunes. The group's share price has risen almost 50% since he was appointed despite fears about the effect of Donald Trump's plans for import tariffs and the effect on US and Chinese consumer spending. This month Schulman announced a plan to cut about a fifth of Burberry's global workforce to bring £60m in additional cost savings on top of a £40m savings programme that he had announced in November. The annual report shows Burberry has already been reducing its workforce, with the number of employees down by more than 870 to 8,459 year on year. Burberry's directors said in the report that they had consulted shareholders about the level of Schulman's pay. 'The majority of shareholders appreciated the circumstances of Josh's recruitment and were supportive of the design of Josh's ongoing remuneration arrangements, the approach to his annual bonus for [the last year] and his recruitment award.' They said directors were 'mindful of the feedback received from some of our shareholders during the consultation and took this into account when determining the final level of bonus payout'. Andrew Speke, of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said: 'Given Burberry's financial struggles, it's not surprising they're taking cost-cutting measures. 'But to be cutting thousands of jobs while continuing to pay exorbitant amounts to executives is ethically highly questionable and seems like a big strategic error. 'It will cause major damage to the morale of the workforce and reflects yet another major company that appears to think that business success comes from paying the person at the top a lot of money rather than investing more equitably in the broader workforce.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Burberry pays new boss almost £2.6m in his first nine months while cutting workforce
Burberry has paid its new boss Joshua Schulman almost £2.6m in his first nine months in the job, including £380,000 in house moving costs, as the ailing British brand announced hundreds of job cuts. The company also handed former boss Jonathan Akeroyd a pay-off worth about £1.5m – a year's notice including salary, pension and cash benefits – after he exited the company in July last year, according to the group's annual report. The former Versace boss exited less than three years after he was appointed in 2021. This year Schulman could earn up to £5.6m if he meets bonus targets, excluding a £3.6m potential bonus if he doubles Burberry's share price with the aim of re-entering the FTSE 100. He is also in line for a further £25,000 a month in 'housing allowance' for just over a year on top of £135,171 to help him find a new home, £120,655 towards transporting his effects from New York, where he previously lived, and five months of housing allowance already paid. In his first nine months, Schulman was handed a £1.2m bonus on top of his £1.356m in fixed salary which included the moving allowances. The chunky payments to senior directors come despite Burberry announcing plans to slash 1,700 jobs worldwide by 2027 – including removing the entire night shift of 170 people at its Yorkshire raincoat factory – in a bid to tackle sliding profits. The company announced the plan earlier this month as it revealed it had dived to an annual loss of £66m, from a profit of £383m a year before, as it struggled in a troubled global luxury goods industry after a series of strategic missteps. Schulman, the former boss of the US fashion brand Coach, was hired as chief executive last year in an attempt to turn around Burberry's fortunes. The group's share price has risen almost 50% since he was appointed despite fears about the effect of Donald Trump's plans for import tariffs and the effect on both US and Chinese consumer spending. Earlier this month Schulman announced a plan to cut about a fifth of Burberry's global workforce to bring £60m in additional cost savings on top of a £40m savings programme that he had unveiled in November. The annual report shows Burberry has already been reducing its workforce with the number of employees down by more than 870 to 8,459 year-on-year. Burberry's directors said in the report that they had consulted with shareholders about the level of Schulman's pay. 'The majority of shareholders appreciated the circumstances of Josh's recruitment and were supportive of the design of Josh's ongoing remuneration arrangements, the approach to his annual bonus for [the last year] and his recruitment award.' They said directors were 'mindful of the feedback received from some of our shareholders during the consultation and took this into account when determining the final level of bonus payout'.


Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Burberry boss nets £1.2M bonus in just nine months - with golden handshake that could be worth three times that
The new boss of Burberry has clocked up a £1.2million bonus for just nine months in the role and been given a golden handshake that could be worth three times that. The fashion label paid Joshua Schulman £2.5million for the year to the end of March, including £846,000 in salary, and benefits such as a £380,000 relocation fee for moving from the US, where he ran handbag maker Michael Kors. He was also promised a 'recruitment award' worth up to 300 per cent of his salary if the share price 'more than doubles' and returns it to the FTSE 100 within three years. Even without that, he could net up to £5.7million this year if bonus targets are met. Shares are up 14 per cent since he replaced Jonathan Akeroyd as chief executive last July. Last month Burberry, whose summer campaign features model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and tennis ace Jack Draper, revealed a £3million annual loss as sales fell 17 per cent and set out 1,700 job losses.