CEO pay at UK’s top companies is 52 times that of typical worker, report finds
The chief executive of a FTSE 350 company is paid 52 times as much as a typical worker, according to the latest measure of inequality between bosses and their employees.Median pay for FTSE 350 chief executives was £2.5m last year, which works out at 52 times a median worker’s pay, according to a new report from the High Pay Centre campaign group.The widest gap was found at the cleaning, security and waste management group Mitie, whose chief executive, Phil Bentley, was paid £14.7m, 575 times more than a middle-earner in the 2023-24 financial year.
Tesco ranked the second highest for the same period among FTSE 350 companies legally obliged to report the figure.With a package worth nearly £10m, the supermarket’s chief executive, Ken Murphy, was paid 431 times more than a typical Tesco worker that year.The most recent ratio, for the company’s 2024-25 financial year, was lower, at a multiple of 373 as Murphy’s pay fell to £9.2m.Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre, said a maximum pay ratio between chief executives and workers could help ensure that all workers received “a fair reward for their contribution to business success”.
The pay-gap ratio was even starker among FTSE 100 companies, where the median pay of chief executives was 78 times higher than their median employees.When compared with the lowest-earning quartile, the multiple rose to 106.The High Pay Centre suggested all companies should be required to publish their CEO-to-worker pay gaps in their annual reports, and include pay figures for outsourced workers in their calculations.Its research found the pay-gap ratio between chief executives and workers had decreased in the past year, and that there had been growth in pay for the lowest-earning workers.However, the thinktank noted this could also have reflected changes such as a smaller workforce due to job cuts, outsourcing or relocation.
Tensions have been growing in the City over big pay packages for chief executives.Last month Centrica, the owner of British Gas, faced a shareholder rebellion after it handed its boss a multimillion-pound pay packet while energy bill payers struggled with record levels of debt.Before the vote, the leading proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services recommended against supporting Chris O’Shea’s pay rise as it “was materially above those given to the wider workforce”.Elsewhere, the pay package of Marks & Spencer’s chief executive, Stuart Machin, jumped to more than £7m just weeks before the cyber-attack that rocked the retailer.It marked a 40% rise compared with the £5.
1m he took home a year earlier, partly as a result of a sharp rise in performance-linked bonuses.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionBosses in the banking sector are also expected to get bumper pay packages this year after the removal of the UK banker bonus cap in late 2023.NatWest Group proposed a 43% increase in the maximum for its chief executive, Paul Thwaite, taking his total compensation to as high as £7.7m for the year.Meanwhile, his counterpart at Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, could earn up to £14.
3m, a 45% increase.HSBC has suggested a 43% rise for Georges Elhedery, for a maximum payout of about £15m.A spokesperson for Tesco said its most recent pay-gap ratio reflected a remuneration policy for executive directors tied to the performance of the business.They said: “We remain committed to a competitive and fair reward package for all colleagues.Earlier this year we announced a further increase in hourly pay rates, equivalent to an investment of more than £900m over the last three years.
”A spokesperson for Mitie said its high multiple reflected a one-off award for its chief executive after the acquisition of another business, Interserve.They said: “The acquisition saved 29,000 jobs, Mitie’s revenues have more than doubled from £2.2bn to £5.1bn, and the share price has risen 125%.“Our colleagues have also benefited from Mitie’s strong financial performance during that time through the gifting of over £19m in free shares as well as £30m of value created for colleagues who participated in the ‘save as you earn’ scheme during that time.
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McLaren play it cool after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collide at Canadian GP
McLaren attempted to play down any acrimony between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after they collided at the Canadian GP, with the Briton crashing out, as George Russell claimed a decisive victory for Mercedes after starting on pole.Norris’s failure to finish, crashing out from fifth with three laps left, means the Australian, who finished fourth, increases his championship lead over his teammate to 22 points. Russell sits in fourth in the standings, 62 points off Piastri.Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionNorris was quick to hold up his hands over the crash on the team radio. “All my bad, all my fault, stupid from me,” he said straight after the incident
George Russell wins the Canadian Grand Prix after McLaren collision: F1 – as it happened
Here’s the report on the action in Montreal.And across the Atlantic.Manufacturers standings1 McLaren 374pts2 Mercedes GP 1993 Ferrari 1834 Red Bull 1625 Williams 556 Haas F1 287 RB 288 Aston Martin 229 Kick Sauber 2010 Alpine 111 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 198pts2 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1763 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1554 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1365 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1046 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Ferrari 797 Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes GP 638 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 429 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Haas F1 2210 Isack Hadjar (Fra) RB 2111 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber 2012 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1413 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Williams 1314 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1115 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 1016 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 817 Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas F1 618 Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 419 Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Sauber 020 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 021 Jack Doohan (Aus) Alpine 01. George Russell (Mercedes)2
Redemption for ‘chilled’ Russell at Canadian F1 GP as Norris gets it all wrong
George Russell scored the first race win of 2025 for both himself and Mercedes with a fine drive to win the Canadian GP. Critical to the success was a superb sixth career pole position, which Russell described as “probably the most exhilarating lap I’ve ever done in my life because around this circuit you’ve got to be so committed”.The 27-year-old overcame the threat of the four-time world champion, Max Verstappen, after the pair collided twice at the previous race in Spain, after which the Dutchman received three penalty points on his licence, taking him to within a single penalty point of a one-race ban.After beating Verstappen to pole in Montreal, Russell joked that he had a bit more leeway to get his elbows out at the start. After a better getaway, he didn’t need to, and fears that higher race-day temperatures might hamper the Mercedes tyre wear proved unfounded
Leigh solidify top-four spot after Ofahengaue’s late try sees off Wakefield
Leigh Leopards won this pulsating contest to solidify their position inside the top four and underline why they are a fraction ahead of Wakefield Trinity right now in Super League.It felt like an afternoon for these two sides to showcase their Old Trafford credentials at the season’s end, and both played their part in a thoroughly entertaining game which see-sawed until the final moments.Leigh are now a bona fide top-six side and they look increasingly likely to be in the playoffs come the end of the summer. Here, they had to do it tough, trailing until the final three minutes before Joe Ofahengaue’s late try helped to secure a precious win.“It’s a difficult place to come up to and win,” their coach, Adrian Lam, said
‘A special moment’: Russell revels in Bath glory as focus turns to Lions
Had Handrè Pollard done his homework he might have known what was coming – for Finn Russell has previous with intercepts when attacking Twickenham’s south stand. It was playing that way that he picked off Owen Farrell’s pass before streaking clear in the madcap 38-38 draw between England and Scotland in 2019. And he was at it again on Saturday, coming up with the decisive moment in Bath’s dogged Premiership final victory over Leicester.On this occasion he did not finish off the try himself – you suspect he probably could have – instead flinging a nonchalant pass inside to the onrushing Max Ojomoh. In a final short on champagne moments, it put the fizz in Bath’s performance, extending their lead to 20-7 before a second penalty of the match proved pivotal in ensuring the 29-year wait for a Premiership title was over
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