Anger as William Hill chief’s package passed by a ‘short head’

William Hill said yesterday that 49.9 per cent of proxy votes were against the pay package, and 50.1 per cent for.

Chairman Gareth Davis declared the resolution passed after a show of hands at the AGM. “In bookmakers’ parlance, it was a short head,” Mr Davis said after the vote.

The non-binding vote reflects a ‘shareholder spring’ over excessive rewards for bosses of Britain’s top companies.

William Hill’s chief executive Ralph Topping, who has worked for the company since 1973, will be entitled to the bonus in shares if he stays on until the end of next year.

“I am a man of my word and I will not renege on that deal,” Mr Davis told shareholders, referring to the pay agreement which was announced last June when Mr Topping turned 60.

“We have no intention of backing off... the management of William Hill is demonstrably creating value for all shareholders,” Mr Davis said, noting that proxy vote adviser ISS had been urging a rejection of the deal.

Many of the around 150 shareholders at the meeting in central London applauded Mr Topping when he gave a presentation on the company’s perform- ance.

Mr Davis said that William Hill – which has had a resilient performance during the economic downturn and outperformed its British rivals – was a successful business and the deal was designed to lock in the services of one of the most experienced executives in the industry.

“For a very reasonable additional cost, we have secured Mr Topping’s services I hope well beyond the end of 2013,” he told shareholders during the meet- ing.

Mr Topping, who has been chief executive since 2008, had a basic salary of £600,000 in 2011 and a total package of £1.71m, up from £1.65m the previous year.

William Hill employs more than 15,000 people, including around 3,000 staff in Yorkshire, of which more than 1,100 are based in Leeds.

Investors across Europe are becoming increasingly hostile to excessive rewards for direct- ors.

More than a third of Swiss bank UBS’s, shareholders rejected its remuneration plans last week, mirroring investor rebellions at Credit Suisse and Barclays.

Company directors are expected to remain under pressure from shareholders over executive pay even after the market downturn ends with investors and directors saying the days of shareholders routinely rubber-stamping company resolutions at annual meetings are gone.