DISCONTENT

Marmite-to-Dove soap giant Unilever has admitted failing to talk to shareholders in the run-up to its ill-fated decision to move its corporate HQ to the Netherlands.

In a cross-party committee hearing with MPs at Westminster, Unilever said it had “learned lessons” after an embarrassing U-turn saw it ditch plans to move from London to Rotterdam following pressure from investors.

Peter Newham, director and executive vicepresident for reward at Unilever, told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee that the group had also failed to seek shareholder views early enough on pay plans for top bosses.

It comes after nearly 36% of Unilever investors voted against its executive pay plans in May after chief executive Paul Polman’s pay swelled 11.6 million euros (£10.2 million) amid a raft of remuneration policy changes.

Committee chairwoman Rachel Reeves said there was a “pattern” of investor discontent at decisions being made by Unilever’s board.

“Do you think there’s a lesson to be learned here?”

She said: “Perhaps you could improve things by discussing things with shareholders a little bit sooner and therefore making recommendations as a board that your shareholders – the owners of the company – are more supportive of ?

“Do you think there’s a lesson to be learned?”

Mr Newham agreed and said there was also a “good lesson for us” after trying to push through significant changes to executive pay.

In the hearing with MPs, Royal Mail also admitted a “big mistake” after suffering a high-profile shareholder defeat over a salary rise for its new Zurich-based boss Rico Back and leaving package for former chief executive Moya Greene.

The pound’s strength weighed on the FTSE 100, although it still managed to end in positive territory.

London’s top flight closed up 30.18 points, or 0.43%, at 7,059.4.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX closed up 1.4% and France’s CAC was 1.5% higher.

A barrel of Brent Crude was changing hands at 80.6 US dollars, down 0.1%.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado up 43.6p at 833.4p, Ashtead up 88.5p at 2,061p, Paddy Power Betfair up 280p at 6,570p, and Experian up 74p at 1,807p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were British American Tobacco down 154.5p at 3,176.5p, Tesco down 7.4p at 208.6p, Marks & Spencer down 6.7p at 286.1p, and Imperial Brands down 46p at 2,541p.

“This is another piece of good news for the economy”

Unrest in the boardroom