Boss picks up bonus after £60m cost-cutting

The boss of Wickes owner Travis Perkins saw his pay package almost double last year after action to slash costs and stabilise the business helped shares soar, it emerged yesterday.

Geoff Cooper, Travis chief executive, was awarded a 636,000 bonus last year on top of salary and benefits following a tripling in the group's share price, according to the firm's annual report.

The leap in his total pay and bonuses to 1.4m – up from 777,000 in 2008 – came after the executive team led a drastic overhaul amid the recession.

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Costs were cut by 60m in 2009 and a shareholder cash-call successfully completed, while trading showed signs of revival at its Wickes DIY arm by the end of the year.

But the turnaround programme claimed hefty job casualties, including 2,500 roles and nearly 30 senior managers over the past couple of years.

Profits continued to slide last year, down 11 per cent, to 180m, albeit showing a marked improvement on the 23 per cent profits plunge reported in 2008.

Travis said in yesterday's report that it "took specific actions aimed at maintaining morale and employee engagement in difficult trading conditions.

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"This included removing less-engaged colleagues as we reduced costs, improving remuneration for the remaining employees, increasing internal communication activities and removing unnecessary and burdensome procedures," it added.

Travis Perkins gave a 2.5 per cent pay rise to the majority of staff – excluding the executive team – last January.

Top bosses received no bonus in 2008 and saw their salaries frozen for the first 11 months of 2009 "due to the level of uncertainty facing both the business and the wider economy".

However, they received a 2.5 per cent pay hike in December, although it was not backdated, and a further 1 per cent increase was offered across the board to all employees in January of this year.

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The report revealed that finance director Paul Hampden Smith and chief operating officer John Carter also received hefty bonuses last year, at 371,000 each.

Travis paid out the maximum allowable annual bonuses after it said bosses exceeded all targets in 2009, including earnings per share performance measures and a range of personal objectives covering, for example, performance against competitors, health and safety and investor confidence.

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