Royal Mail boss is humiliated in another pay row
ROYAL mail chairman Peter Long has been forced into an embarrassing u-turn in a fresh row over fat- cat pay at a second company he runs.
Just weeks after suffering one of the biggest shareholder revolts in corporate history at Royal mail, the 66-year- old faced investor fury at estate agency Countrywide, where he is also chairman.
The company, whose brands include hamptons International, Bairstow eves and John D Wood, had planned to hand top bosses including Long up to £ 20m in shares.
But the controversial bonus scheme has been axed following a backlash from investors who threatened to vote against the plan at a meeting next week. The climbdown comes weeks after Long was humiliated by Royal mail shareholders when 70pc of them voted against the postal service’s pay policies.
Concerns have been raised about whether he is overstretched. he is paid £300,000 a year as chairman of Royal mail and £360,000 as executive chairman of Countrywide.
he is also deputy chairman of the supervisory board at travel agent Tui, where he earns £167,000, but has relinquished his role as chairman of Spanish theme park operator Parques Reunidos.
In an interview two years ago Long said: ‘you have to ensure that when you take on chairmanships you can give sufficient time to them and you don’t spread yourself too thin.’
Peter Kyle mP, a member of the parliamentary business committee, said: ‘I have met people who can do the most prodigious amount of work and do it very well. But we have to judge the performance of executives by outcomes and not on their words, and it’s very clear there have been some outcomes for Royal mail that have affected staff and affected customers, and this for me should trigger a period of reflection.’
Countrywide is Britain’s biggest estate agent and has about 10,000 employees, but has been struggling in the face of slumping property sales and online competition. It has issued four profit warnings in less than a year.
It had wanted to bring in an incentive scheme to try and boost morale, along with a £140m refinancing package to help keep the company afloat. under the plan, father-of-three Long could have received stock worth more than £6m, managing director Paul Creffield £8m, and chief finance boss himanshu Raja £7m.
however, it provoked a backlash, with leading shareholder advisory group ISS calling it excessive and recommending shareholders vote against the pay plans at a meeting on the refinancing plans next Tuesday.
yesterday Countrywide pulled the scheme adding: ‘Consultation meetings on remuneration with major shareholders have been constructive and supportive.’
A Royal mail spokesman said: ‘Peter Long is very committed to Royal mail.’