Latest news with #executivepay
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nationwide boss's £7m pay deal ‘not about greed', says chairman
Nationwide has defended a £7m pay deal for its boss Dame Debbie Crosbie, saying the large sum was not about 'personal greed' after it was approved by members. Kevin Parry, the chairman of the building society, told Nationwide's annual meeting on Friday that the pay plan was 'fair' compared to the salaries at rivals – despite one Nationwide member labelling it 'an obscenity'. The mutual has come in for fierce criticism in recent months amid concerns that the building society is adopting similar practices to the shareholder-owned banks. Nationwide is Britain's largest building society, with 16m members who each take a share of its profits as mutual owners of the building society. Mr Parry told Nationwide's annual meeting, which was held online, that the directors including Dame Debbie were motivated by factors other than money. 'For the avoidance of doubt, I'm very confident in saying this is not about personal greed. This is about equity with people that do similar jobs elsewhere. I don't think that money is the primary motivation. And it's not the case that they have themselves asked for more money,' he said. Alongside the pay deal, Dame Debbie's acquisition of Virgin Money last year and the lack of members on the board has led to a campaign from some quarters against her leadership. Since joining from TSB two years ago, the Scottish chief executive has cemented Nationwide's status in the upper echelons of British finance, and it now ranks number two to Lloyds Bank in the mortgage market. However, a Nationwide member who identified herself as Dr Standon used the meeting to accuse the board of being driven by money because of its aggressive growth. She said: 'Your remuneration policy and your explanation for it, including in this meeting, suggests that unfortunately, your executive team are primarily motivated by money.' Dr Standon branded it an 'obscenity' that Nationwide had decided to increase the pay, adding: 'One would expect the Nationwide to set an example to others.' Tracey Graham, the chairman of Nationwide's remuneration committee, said the pay packages were needed to prevent top executives from leaving the building society, citing Lloyds Bank's pay deal for Charlie Nunn, its chief executive, which is 25pc greater than Dame Debbie's pay. 'I have never had any pressure or any requests from any member of the executive or senior leadership team about their pay. What we do as a committee is stand back. We look at all of the market data, including that is banks and building societies,' she said. The pay deal was backed by members, with only 5pc voting against the new pay policy. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Water chiefs' pay rises to average of £1.1m despite ban on bonuses and outrage over pollution
The pay of water company chief executives in England and Wales rose by 5% in the last financial year to an average of £1.1m, despite a ban on bonuses for several companies and widespread outrage over the sector's poor performance. Total pay reported by water companies reached £15m in 2024-25, up 5% on £13.8m the previous year, according to Guardian analysis of 14 companies' annual reports. Water companies have been under scrutiny in recent years over their record on the environmentally damaging discharges of sewage into Britain's rivers and seas. Politicians and campaigners have also reacted angrily to bill increases allowed in April by the regulator, Ofwat. The pay figures raise questions about the effectiveness of the government's efforts to limit water executives' pay. Ofwat gained powers last year to insist that bonuses were paid by shareholders rather than through customers' bills, before new rules in June that allowed a ban on bonuses for bosses of companies guilty of the most serious environmental damage. The biggest pay increase was enjoyed by Keith Haslett, the chief executive of Affinity Water. He was awarded an extra £844,000, doubling his total pay to £1.6m. Portsmouth Water's boss, Bob Taylor, also doubled his pay, to £754,000. Six companies – Thames Water, Anglian Water, Southern Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water – were banned from paying bonuses for the 2024-25 financial year to their chief executives and chief financial officers. The bonus ban did appear to have an effect, with pay falling 8% to £5.5m across those six suppliers. Most of that drop was driven by Thames Water, whose boss, Chris Weston, received £1m, after he and three predecessor chief executives received a total of £1.7m the year before. Despite the bonus ban, Southern Water awarded its chief executive, Lawrence Gosden, an 80% pay increase to £1.4m. After the Guardian revealed the increase, the environment secretary, Steve Reed, said Gosden should turn down the extra money. Southern Water said the pay increase complied with the rules. A spokesperson said it was not a bonus but part of a 'two-year long-term incentive plan'. Not all the money was paid during the financial year, and he may not receive all of it if Southern fails to achieve an adequate environmental rating. Sophie Conquest, lead campaigner at We Own It, a group campaigning for public ownership of water, said: 'The public is rightly angry about the obscene levels of cash being handed over to the private water bosses. 'What has their highly valued commercial brilliance delivered for us? Water bills hiked by 30% and the ongoing vandalisation of our rivers and lakes. No new reservoirs built in 30 years, and 3bn litres of water lost daily to crumbling pipes. 'Never in the field of essential public services has so much been earned by so few for doing so little.' Pay for chief financial officers pay fell 3% to £7.6m for the 12 water companies who disclosed it, although that decline was driven by a steep drop from £1.3m to £636,000 for the since-departed Alastair Cochran at Thames Water as the company neared collapse. Aside from Thames, CFO pay rose by 7% on average during the year. The highest-paid water boss was Liv Garfield, of Severn Trent, a FTSE 100 company that supplies 4.6m households across the Midlands and north Wales. She was granted £3.3m during the financial year. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The lowest-paid water chief executive was David Hinton, of South East Water, who received £456,000 – still well above the £270,000 salary for the head of the NHS. Luke Hildyard, the executive director of the High Pay Centre, which campaigns against 'excessive' pay, called for water company salaries to be limited to 10 times the lowest earners. 'Many people have found it hard to reconcile the litany of financial, environmental and customer service disasters variously afflicting these companies with top pay awards that have frequently exceeded £1m,' he said. 'Is a clean, reliable water supply really so contingent on these seven-figure pay awards?' A government spokesperson said: 'Undeserved bonuses for water company bosses have now been banned as part of the government's plan to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good. We also have ringfenced customers' bills to ensure investment must be spent on new sewage pipes and treatment works, not bonuses. 'Any instances of companies trying to circumvent the new rules are completely unacceptable. The government will leave no stone unturned against any bosses being made these payments.' A spokesperson for Water UK, a lobby group, said: 'Executive pay in the water industry is independently determined by remuneration committees, which abide by the laws and regulations set by government. 'Water companies are focused on investing a record £104bn over the next five years to secure our water supplies, end sewage entering our rivers and seas and support economic growth.'
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Nationwide boss's £7m pay deal ‘not about greed', says chairman
Nationwide has defended a £7m pay deal for its boss Dame Debbie Crosbie saying the windfall is not about 'personal greed' after it was approved by members. Kevin Parry, the chairman of the building society, told Nationwide's annual meeting on Friday that the pay plan was 'fair' compared to the salaries at rivals – despite one Nationwide member labelling it 'an obscenity'. The mutual has come in for fierce criticism in recent months amid concerns that the building society is adopting similar practices to the shareholder-owned banks. Nationwide is Britain's largest building society, with 16m members who each take a share of its profits as mutual owners of the building society. Mr Parry told Nationwide's annual meeting, which was held online, that the directors including Dame Debbie were motivated by factors other than money. 'For the avoidance of doubt, I'm very confident in saying this is not about personal greed. This is about equity with people that do similar jobs elsewhere. I don't think that money is the primary motivation. And it's not the case that they have themselves asked for more money,' he said. Alongside the pay deal, Dame Debbie's acquisition of Virgin Money last year and the lack of members on the board has led to a campaign from some quarters against her leadership. Since joining from TSB two years ago, the Scottish chief executive has cemented Nationwide's status in the upper echelons of British finance, and it now ranks number two to Lloyds Bank in the mortgage market. However a Nationwide member, who identified herself as Dr Standon, used the meeting to accuse the board of being driven by money because of its aggressive growth. She said: 'Your remuneration policy and your explanation for it, including in this meeting, suggests that unfortunately, your executive team are primarily motivated by money.' Dr Standon branded it an 'obscenity' that Nationwide had decided to increase the pay, adding: 'One would expect the Nationwide to set an example to others'. Tracey Graham, the chairman of Nationwide's remuneration committee, said that the pay packages were needed to prevent top executives from leaving the building society, citing Lloyds Bank's pay deal for Charlie Nunn, its chief executive, which is 25pc greater than Dame Debbie's pay. 'I have never had any pressure or any requests from any member of the executive or senior leadership team about their pay. What we do as a committee is stand back. We look at all of the market data, including that is banks and building societies,' she said. The pay deal was backed by members, with only 5pc voting against the new pay policy.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Nationwide boss's £7m pay package is an ‘obscenity', says member of mutual
A £7m pay package for the Nationwide chief executive, Debbie Crosbie, has been labelled an 'obscenity' and hypocritical by members of the mutual, even as it gained approval at the building society's AGM on Friday. Concerned members who tuned into the online-only meeting on Friday morning criticised the board's plan to increase Crosbie's maximum payout by 43%, saying the move was out of touch and did not align with the mutual's principles. One member, Ms Andrews, said: 'No one needs to earn more than £1m in salary, and certainly not £7m.' Another member, Mr Fisher, asked 'Does the CEO see both the irony and the hypocrisy of the size of her bonus: an amount in one year that most people would struggle to spend in a lifetime?' Meanwhile, a member identified as Dr Standon said that Nationwide already had the option of paying Crosbie up to £4.8m, and that pushing that figure to £7m was 'an obscenity'. 'One would expect Nationwide to set an example to others,' she said. Nationwide argued that Crosbie's pay rises reflected new demands after its £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money, and its remuneration should be close to packages offered by rivals including Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest. 'We pay more than most building societies, but then again, we are larger,' the head of Nationwide's remuneration committee, Tracey Graham, said. 'We are five times larger than Coventry, we are more complex, and we are more important to the UK economy than other building societies … We are now the second largest mortgage lender and savings provider in the UK, and yet we pay less than compared to the high street banks. 'Our job is to ensure that we have the very best leaders here at Nationwide, and we do operate in a competitive marketplace. That is what we need to pay them, for us to believe that we are paying them equally or fairly.' Standon acknowledged that Nationwide had done 'lots of good things for members … and it's commendable that you followed through on the principles behind mutuality by not prioritising profit'. But she said that while the building society claimed to value people over profits, its justification for the rise 'suggests that unfortunately, your executive team are primarily motivated by money'. 'If they do leave purely because of the money, then, is it not the case that they were not in line with Nationwide principles in the first place?' Standon asked. The Nationwide chair, Kevin Parry, defended the building society's bosses saying: 'I don't think that money is the primary motivation … I'm very confident in saying this is not about personal greed. This is about equity with people that do similar jobs elsewhere.' Members ultimately gave the green light to the pay policy, and 627,982, or 94.8%, voted in favour. Nationwide said 34,492 members, accounting for 5.2% of voters, rejected the new pay package. Nationwide's board was criticised by one member over the fact that members were not given a binding votes. Parry, confirmed that while votes to re-elect board members are binding – meaning members have a final say – Nationwide is not required to hold binding votes on pay under building society rules. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The board was also forced to admit during the livestreamed AGM that a £316m accounting error was missed by the building society and its auditor EY, and only came to light as a result of one of its eagle-eyed members, Mr Dugan. Nationwide explained that while it did force the building society to correct its 2024 results, the mistake related to the way it had deducted expenses from its income, but did not affect profitability. Dugan pushed the matter, saying the error was six times larger than the £55m threshold at which errors are deemed material, meaning the point at which they could end up influencing business decisions. He asked why Nationwide was willing to reappoint EY on that basis. 'We were very grateful last year when you identified the issue,' the chair of Nationwide's audit committee, Phil Rivett, said during the AGM. However, he said the society was still 'very satisfied with the quality of the work they [EY] do, and the challenge that they provide to management on accounting judgments and issues.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Macquarie's famed pay packages under attack from disgruntled shareholders at AGM
Macquarie Group has been stung by a shareholder backlash against its executive pay plans amid disquiet over a string of regulatory prosecutions. Investors lodged votes against Macquarie's remuneration plans in excess of 25%, in a major rebuke of the company's famed pay packages, triggering a 'first strike' at its annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday. A remuneration report requires a 25% opposing vote to trigger a strike, as opposed to the usual majority required for ordinary resolutions. Under rules designed to hold directors accountable for executive pay, shareholders will get a chance to spill the board next year if they deliver another strike. The Macquarie chair, Glenn Stevens, said at the AGM that a number of shareholders had expressed a view that the board had not adequately reflected 'risk shortcomings'. 'The board hears your message and will reflect carefully on addressing those concerns,' Stevens said. Sign up: AU Breaking News email In May, the chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Joe Longo, issued a stinging critique of Macquarie after announcing the fourth regulatory action against the company in just over 12 months. Longo said at the time Asic had 'ongoing and deep concerns' with Macquarie over its 'weak remediation of longstanding issues'. Asic alleged in May that Macquarie's securities business engaged in misleading conduct by misreporting millions of short sales to the market operator for more than 14 years. Short sales refer to investors taking a position on an asset they expect to fall in value. Macquarie said it had remedied those issues, implemented additional controls and was reviewing the regulator's claim. The company could not comment further on Thursday given it is a live legal matter. Macquarie is well-known for its huge pay packets, which are tightly linked to company profits. The Macquarie chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, earned $24m during the last 12-month reporting period, mostly consisting of bonuses, making her one of Australia's highest paid executives. While shareholders usually lodge a protest vote against executive pay when a company is performing poorly, there are times investors use it to tell the board they are unhappy about other issues. Woolworths received a remuneration strike in 2023 after shareholders over concerns with the supermarket's response to the death of two workers, one of whom was killed after being hit by pallets at a distribution centre. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Macquarie also faced a climate-focused shareholder resolution calling on the company to outline how its financing for fossil fuel projects aligned with its net zero commitments. The resolution, which did not receive majority support, asked the bank to disclose its exposure to fossil fuel companies and its plans for financing them. Activists are particularly unhappy with Macquarie's support for the planned large gas fracking project in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo basin. 'The reality is that Macquarie's fossil fuel financing activity is categorically not aligned with its climate commitments,' Kyle Robertson, an analyst at the climate activist group Market Forces, told the AGM. While many financiers have climate policies, they often allow for the development of new fossil fuel reserves, rubbing against analysis showing emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure are more than enough to push the world beyond its climate goals. Stevens said the company's position was in line with the policies of the federal government, which allows for the expansion of gas production during the transition to renewable energy. 'That is part of the transition; Macquarie is involved in that,' Stevens said.
