Giles Thorley, chief executive of Punch Taverns, earns £11m a year making him the third highest paid director in the UK last year, according to a new survey.
Thorley’s pay package, which included a £10m profit on share options, was shown to be equal to that of Lord Browne, former chief executive of BP.
The annual report on FTSE 100 executives’ pay by The Guardian described Thorley as the boss whose pay, which is equal to that of 1,147 of his pub staff, “is most out of line with his employees”.
The study found that the directors of Britain’s top firms saw their earnings soar by 37% in 2006, with the average salary topping almost £3m.
Bosses were shown to be paid nearly 100 times more than their staff, which is the largest rise in recent years.
Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, told The Guardian: “It is impossible to believe that top directors have become so much more productive than the rest of their staff over the last year.
“This growing gap is not just morally offensive but hits workforce morale, feeds through into house price inflation and threatens social cohesion. Britain's boardrooms are slowly losing touch with reality.”
