Phone boss scoops £6m

THE fat cat gravy train has delivered a £6m pay day to the boss of Vodafone – in a year when the telecoms firm had to pay a £4.6m fine.

Vittorio Colao, 55, saw his pay rise 15pc last year, up from £5.2m a year earlier, thanks to larger long-term share awards.

Part of his bonus was capped after Ofcom penalised the firm for failing to credit the pay-asyou-go accounts of 10,452 customers even though they had paid to top up.

The bumper payout to the chief executive follows continued criticism of sky-high remuneration, which has seen Prime Minister Theresa May vow to crack down on fat cat pay.

Colao, a father-of-two, earned a salary of £1.2m, a £1.1m bonus, £3.5m in long-term incentives and extra cash in lieu of pension and benefits.

Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, said: ‘While the underlying business is doing well, it seems like an excessive rise at a time Vodafone has had poor service.’