More red faces for builder over pay

PERSIMMON was last night facing fresh embarrassment over the huge pay difference between boss Jeff Fairburn and other staff.

A letter sent to MPs by the housebuilder yesterday revealed the chief executive was paid 1,320 times more than the average employee last year. He made £47.1m, compared to the £35,670 paid to most staff.

The admission comes after Marion Sears, chairman of Persimmon’s pay committee, was unable to tell the House of Commons business committee what the average employee at the company earned at a hearing earlier this month. MPs were questioning Sears after a £44.9m bonus paid to Fairburn was described by critics as obscene.

Yesterday, alongside a picture of Persimmon’s letter, Rachel Reeves, the committee’s chairman, tweeted: ‘No wonder Persimmon didn’t want to tell us about their pay ratio.’

Persimmon said Fairburn had earned 62 times more than the average employee in 2016.