Investors’ pay revolt at Virgin Money fails

A SHAREHOLDER revolt at Virgin Money will not be enough to stop its chief executive, Britain’s highestpaid female banking boss, from pocketing £7.9m when she leaves.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia is stepping down later this year when the finance firm is bought by rival Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group (CYBG).

Investors approved the tie-up yesterday, but they baulked at an amendment to Virgin Money’s pay policy which will allow Gadhia, 56, to take home £1.8m in cash as a redundancy package. That is on top of her £1m cash-and-share bonus for 2018 and other share rewards worth £5m at current market prices.

Though 13.1pc of investors voted against the change, the rebellion was well short of the 50.1pc required to rule it out.

Investor advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services said it was ‘unfortunate’ that executive pay is out of line with ordinary staff. But it added that Gadhia’s package was part of a settlement and, as she had led the deal with CYBG, allowing the payment ‘may possibly be in the wider interests of all parties to ensure a smooth handover’.