£1.6m M&S boss finally cuts his annual bonus

THE boss of marks & Spencer has bowed to pressure and slashed his bonuses after ditching dividends worth £470m.

Chief executive Steve rowe had defied calls to give up his full £810,000 salary plus bonuses, which paid out a total of £1.6m last year.

but this week the company said he would not take annual bonuses for 2019/20 or 2020/21.

The move is a victory for the Time To end Fat Cat Pay campaign run by the mail, which asks business leaders to share the burden caused by Covid19 with savers and taxpayers.

Top fund managers and the Investment Association want boardrooms that ask shareholders to accept sacrifices to ‘share the pain’ themselves.

rowe, right, could still receive a long-term performancerelated bonus when the annual report comes out next month.

On Thursday, the firm dealt its 300,000 private investors a major blow, announcing it did not intend to pay £340m in dividends this year – just weeks after last year’s £130m yearend dividend was cancelled.

The taxpayer is also covering £222m in costs to furlough 27,000 staff, paying 80 per cent of their wages, as well as a 12month business rates holiday.

Six FTSe100 bosses have delayed or cancelled dividends, but have yet to take a pay cut, a mail audit reveals.

bAe boss Charles Woodburn delayed a £442m dividend, but will keep a pay packet that was £3.9m in pay and bonuses last year. mondi has not announced a pay cut for interim chief executive Andrew King since deferring the £237m dividend in April.

Smiths Group boss Andy reynolds Smith, who earned £4.1m, has also not taken a pay cut, and John martin, of Ferguson, has kept his full package, which earned him £5.5m. Packaging company Smurfit Kappa axed a £167m dividend, according to AJ bell, but boss Anthony Smurfit will still get almost £1m plus bonuses. The sixth firm is commodity trader Glencore. boss Ivan Glasenberg was paid £1.2m last year, which he has retained in full. As a major shareholder, he would forego up to £190m in dividends if they are axed. Luke Hildyard, of the High Pay Centre, said: ‘Surely, well-paid executives should share some of the pain with savers and investors.’ mondi and Smiths declined to comment. Smurfit Kappa and Ferguson did not respond to requests for comment.