Yorkshire's top earners: The full list »

The Dutch businessman, who became chief executive of the Bradford-based supermarket chain in 2006, received a salary of £804,000 last year.

He was also given a £608,000 bonus and additional benefits worth £47,000, making him the top earner in the list for the second year running.

Mr Bolland, who has since seen his salary increase to £850,000, oversaw the successful takeover of Safeway to transform the Morrisons brand into a household name.

But 10 million UK households have yet to visit one of Morrisons' revamped stores, so the company announced in March that it was eyeing up more than 100 new sites as part of an ambitious expansion programme.

As well as Mr Bolland, two figures on our top 10 earners' list, Mike Humphrey and Neil Gaydon, received total packages worth in excess of £1m.

Mr Humphrey, head of chemicals group Croda International, received a £520,008 salary and an identical bonus, plus benefits worth £28,796.

He joined the group as a management trainee in 1969 and worked his way through the ranks to chief executive in 1999.

Mr Gaydon, chief executive of microtechnology developer Pace since 2006, was awarded a £400,000 bonus on top of his £404,000 salary, as well as a £200,000 share bonus which has been deferred for two years.

Mr Bolland is the only member of the top 10 to work in the retail sector, although two others have made their money through food manufacturing.

Northern Foods chief executive Stefan Barden, a Leeds University graduate whose CV also includes senior roles at Iceland and Heinz, received a £475,000 salary and a £397,800 bonus.

Martin Davey earned a £542,000 salary and a £170,000 bonus as he celebrated 20 years as chief executive of food and agribusiness company Cranswick. Company reports indicate that Mr Davey, who has also been the firm's chairman since 2004, received an additional income of £76,000 plus benefits worth £1,000.

The property sector has witnessed an alarming slump over the past 12 months, but two developers feature in our top 10 earners' list.

Mike Farley, whose Persimmon company made losses of £780m and was forced to close 40 regional offices, received no bonus last year but kept his £633,450 salary, as well as a £190,035 supplement in lieu of pension contributions.

He was also awarded benefits worth £38,835 by the group, which he has led as chief executive since 2006.

The downturn forced developer Town Centre Securities to shelve its planned Eastgate Quarters retail project in Leeds in February, but the group's chairman and chief executive Edward Ziff received a total package worth £722,000.

This included a £488,000 salary, a £200,000 bonus and benefits worth £34,000.

Steve Vaughan, head of Leeds-based corporate communications company Communisis, received a £245,000 bonus on top of his £437,000 salary. He became the company's chief executive in 2006 after a four-year stint as head of IT group Synstar.

The top 10 is completed by two familiar faces who both featured in last year's list. The chief executive of infrastructure support services company Spice, Simon Rigby, was awarded a £404,000 salary, a £303,000 bonus and benefits totalling £16,000.

The only woman in the top 10, Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson, earned a £450,000 salary, a £293,000 bonus and benefits worth £18,000.