M & S strikes a blow against gender pay gap as parity goes out the shop window

First female CEO earns more pro rata for working a four-day week than her male counterpart

MARKS & SPENCER will pay its first female boss a £750,000 salary for a four-day week – effectively almost £140,000 more than her male counterpart who will work full-time.

Katie Bickerstaffe was announced as the high street stalwart’s co-chief executive alongside Stuart Machin in March.

Mr Machin, who is de facto chief executive and to whom Ms Bickerstaffe will report, will receive an annual salary of £800,000. However, if Ms Bickerstaffe worked a full week, she would be paid more than £937,000 based on the new hourly rate, surpassing Mr Machin’s pay.

Sources said that the two roles often involve working long hours and calculating their salaries on a pro rata basis was not an accurate reflection of their contribution to the business.

M&S’S gender pay gap, the average difference in hourly earnings between its male and female workers, is currently 12.5pc.

Ms Bickerstaffe is M&S’S first female leader in its 138-year history. A mother of two, she is a proponent of flexible working, having opted for a fourday week in previous roles. At some point you look at stuff seven days a week [in a senior management role],” she said in an interview last year. “We’re [M&S] a seven-days-a-week, 24-hour operation and that’s what you do, but I’ve always done that [four days] because it gives me the freedom to spend some downtime with my kids and not feel that I don’t have the opportunity to do that during the week. It really matters to me.”

She added: “Everyone that works for me knows I’ve always had my phone with me, I always check through stuff, there’s never been a problem with it.”

Previously, the boss of Dixons Carphone’s UK and Ireland business, Ms Bickerstaffe joined the retailer’s board as a non-executive director in 2018 and was persuaded by Mr Norman to switch to an executive role two years later.

Marks & Spencer was accused of serving up “M&S fudge” when it first announced the dual leadership in March after Steve Rowe said he was stepping down. Chairman Archie Norman defended the move at the time, saying the unusual arrangement meant the business could retain talent and offer continuity.

Mr Machin joined M&S to run its food business in 2018 with nearly 30 years’ experience working in food, fashion and homewares. He is credited with assisting Mr Rowe and Mr Norman with the retailer’s latest turnaround that began in June 2020. The company said in its annual report that “there was careful deliberation when setting the pay arrangements for Stuart and Katie” and that a number of factors were taken into consideration including different work patterns, experience and skill and the responsibilities of each.

The two chiefs and Eoin Tonge, M&S’S finance boss, could earn more than £15million between them for the current financial year when bonuses are taken into account. According to M&S’S pay report, Mr Machin could earn £5.4million and Ms Bickerstaffe £5.1million. Mr Tonge could be in line for £4.5 million.

To achieve this, they are required to hit stretching targets and drive a 50 per cent increase in the company’s share price. Meanwhile, Mr Rowe saw his pay and bonus package more than double to £2.6million for the past year. It is only the second time that he has received a bonus during his six years as chief executive. M&S’S pay packages are set independently by its remuneration committee.