Nationwide chief faces revolt over £3.4m pay
MEMBERS of Nationwide Building Society have been urged to reject a £3.4 million pay deal for new boss Joe Garner.
The Building Societies Members Association, a body which campaigns for better democratic procedures at mutual organisations, said it had advised its members to vote against all the motions being put at Thursday’s annual meeting.
The body said: ‘How does the new chief executive deserve a £3.4 million pay package, with over £1 million buyout from his previous job, just for running a building society?’
Garner’s pay deal is slightly less than former chief executive Graham Beale earned in his last year at the building society, but came in a year in which Nationwide’s profits fell by 17 per cent.
Chris Leslie, former Shadow Treasury Minister and Labour MP for Nottingham East, said: ‘Ordinary savers and borrowers will find this quite a staggering sum and I think it’s important that as a mutual owned by its members they justify this remuneration.’
Nationwide said Garner’s pay figure was inflated by a £1 million buyout arrangement to lure him from his previous job.
‘If Nationwide was listed it would be in the FTSE 100’s top 50 companies,’ a spokeswoman said.
She added: ‘Nationwide represents 60 per cent of UK building society assets, has 15 million members and is the UK’s second-largest mortgage and savings provider. By any standards it is a systemically important institution.’
Nationwide members have until tomorrow to vote online or by post on the package, or they can vote in person at the annual meeting.