‘Get serious’ call on executive pay

The Government was urged to take “radical action” to close the gap, such as requiring firms to cap executive pay at a fixed multiple of their lowest paid employees.

The High Pay Centre think tank said shareholders were still backing executive pay policies despite being given the power to vote them down at annual meetings. The pay of the average FTSE 100 chief executive increased from £4.1m to £4.7m last year, said the report. The think tank said trust in business was being damaged by the perception that an executive “elite” were reaping all the rewards from economic growth. High Pay Centre director Deborah Hargreaves said: ‘It’s time to get serious about tackling the executive pay racket. The Government’s tinkering won’t bring about a proper change in the UK’s pay culture.”