Boards at Costain and St Modwen agree to take pay cuts

Bosses at contractor Costain and property developer St Modwen​ on Tuesday agreed to pay cuts as they try to ride out the coronavirus crisis.

At Costain, which has been helping with the Crossrail project, the board and senior leadership team have agreed a 30% reduction in salaries and directors’ fees for up to three months.

That includes chief executive Alex Vaughan and finance chief Anthony Bickerstaff​ who have respective basic salaries of £425,000 and £326,000.

Meanwhile, St Modwen​ Properties, which is creating the 550,000 sq ft New Covent Garden market in Nine Elms, said the board has voluntarily agreed to accept a 20% reduction in pay and fees.

The company has also scrapped its planned final dividend of 5.1p per share. Costain’s board had already taken the decision not to pay a final dividend in respect of 2019 at the time of its results on March 11.

Elsewhere in Costain’s update, the firm said London on-site construction activities including on its Crossrail, HS2 and Thames Tideway contracts have been paused, pending further review, at the request of clients during the virus crisis.