Fat cats back on full pay as millions face unemployment

BOSSES of FTSE 100 firms have been accused of ‘virtue signalling’ by reinstating their full salaries as millions face the dole.

The chief executives of firms including Burberry, food manufacturer Bakkavor, and builder Persimmon have reverted to full pay after cutting their wages.

Foxtons is reinstating full pay despite the taxpayer paying some staff wages. It followed a campaign by this newspaper for bosses to ‘share the pain’ in the crisis. The bosses also received kudos for standing by staff as businesses fought for survival.

But their sacrifice has proved short-lived. Persimmon has placed executives back on full pay just a month after they took a 20pc cut. The boss of Bakkavor, Agust Gudmundsson, cut his pay from £788,000 per month to zero for three months from April and will soon return to full pay.

Marco Gobbetti, boss of fashion firm Burberry, which did not furlough workers, will return to his £1.1m salary after a 20pc pay cut. Burberry (which features Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid in its latest fashion campaign, pictured) borrowed £300m from the Bank of England.

Nic Budden at estate agent Foxtons has reverted to his £569,000 salary, after a 20pc cut in April and May. And Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield is back on £60,000 a month.

Government advisers believe unemployment will be 4.5m next year. Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre, said: ‘People will see cases like this alongside rising unemployment and a shrinking economy, and conclude that a handful of wealthy executives getting even richer does nothing for wider society.’

Foxtons declined to comment. Severn Trent and Persimmon said they did not use Government schemes and staff were kept on full pay. Staff at Bakkavor’s and at Burberry have remained on full pay.