Fat cat bosses scoop extra £500k per year as workers suffer under inflation

21 August 2023 , 23:01

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BP CEO Bernard Looney (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Pay for Britain’s top fat cat bosses leapt by an average £500,000 last year while wages for most workers struggled to keep up with inflation.

The average FTSE 100 chief executive netted £3.91million in 2022, according to think tank the High Pay Centre. The figure jumped from £3.41million in 2021 and was the highest for five years. It meant the typical top CEO was paid 118 times more than an average worker in the UK. The ratio has spiralled from 108 times in 2021 and 79 times in 2020.

Luke, Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, said: “At a time when so many households are struggling with living costs, an economic model that prioritises a half a million pound pay rise for executives who are already multi millionaires is surely going wrong somewhere.

Albert Manifold, chief executive officer of CRH Plc (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"How major employers distribute the wealth that their workforce creates has a big impact on people’s living standards. We need to give workers more voice on company boards, strengthen trade union rights and enable low- and middle- income earners to get a fairer share in relation to those at the top.”

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Dame Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer at GlaxoSmithKline (PA)

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “While millions of families have seen their budgets shredded by the cost of living crisis, City directors have enjoyed bumper pay rises. This is why workers must be given seats on company boards to inject some much-needed common sense and restraint. We need an economy that delivers better living standards for all - not just those at the top. But under the Tories Britain has become a land of grotesque extremes.”

Charles Woodburn, CEO of BAE Systems, is seen in Downing Street as he attends a business council meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer of Astrazeneca Plc (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The High Pay Centre’s analysis includes salaries, bonuses and other perks. The highest paid FTSE 100 CEO last year was Pascal Soriot of pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca, who scooped £15.32million. The latest package included £13.6million and bonuses and took the amount Mr Soriot has raked in over the past decade to almost £120million. Second was Charles Woodburn, boss of defence firm BAE System, who got just under £10.7million. Third was Albert Manifold of building materials group CRH, with nearly £10.4million.

Ryan Fahey