FTSE 100 directors pay rises by 49 per cent in just one year

FTSE 100 directors have seen their total earnings jump by an average of 49 per cent in the last financial year, new research by Incomes Data Services (IDS) has revealed.

According to the data, this means the average salary for a director of one of Britian's biggest firms is £2.7 million.

Meanwhile, the data also showed that chief executives saw their remuneration rise by 43 per cent to an average of £3.9 million, with finance directors receiving an average increase of 34.1 per cent to just over £2 million.

These figures come a day after IDS revealed private sector pay packets swelled by 2.6 per cent in the three months to the end of September, while those in the public sector experienced no increase at all.

Both of these fell well short of the consumer price index inflation rate of 5.2 per cent recorded in September, as published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Trade Unions have blasted the level of executive pay, with Unite labelling it "obscene".

General secretary Len McCluskey commented: "The government should strongly consider giving shareholders greater legal powers to question and curb these excessive remuneration packages.

"Institutional shareholders need to exercise much greater scrutiny and control of directors' pay and bonuses. It's obscene and it shows that the City has learnt nothing during the financial troubles of the last four years," he added.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, stated: "This is another shining example of how the elite greedy pigs who run our top companies behave."

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