Fat cat pay row ‘hurting small firms’

FAT-cat bosses’ pay poses a major threat to the reputation of corporate Britain, business leaders warned last night.

Groups representing small and mediumsized firms said public trust in business was at risk, echoing Theresa May’s warning that the success of the economy ‘is undermined by the excesses and irresponsibility of a few’.

The Prime Minister also said bad behaviour by British executives was a gift for Jeremy Corbyn because ‘it emboldens those on the far Left who hate to see business succeed’.

Asked if it agreed with Mrs May’s claim that boardroom excess ‘damages the social fabric of our country’, Edwin Morgan, of the Institute of Directors, said: ‘About 0 per cent of our members say high executive pay might actually affect their business because of the general deterioration of trust. It is a concern in the business community.’

Adam Marshall, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘The threat to the reputation to business is the disconnect between high pay and performance.

‘Most of the business people I speak to don’t have a problem with high pay, but they do have a problem with high pay when it is not connected to performance.’