Future Publishing chief Zillah Byng-Thorne trousers 21% pay rise after making £26m in four years

The chief executive of magazine publisher Zyllah Byng-Thorne is to see a 21% salary rise this year despite having been paid nearly £26 million in the past four years.

Byng-Thorne, currently battling to convince shareholders of the wisdom of her plan to buy GoCompare owner Goco,  is to see her basic pay rise more than a fifth to £575,000.

Including her bonuses and other payments, last year she earned £3.7 million from the Marie Claire to Total Guitar publisher, down on the £5.7 million the year before.

The board said in its annual report that Byng-Thorne deserved the salary increase because she had delivered well for shareholders and the company had doubled in size since it last reviewed it in 2018.

Byng-Thorne has pursued a stream of acquisitions which have boosted Future’s share price over those years.

Operating profit has grown from £19 million to £93 million, its global audience has doubled, as has its number of employees, which now stands at 2000.

The company said Byng-Thorne’s pension benefit would be reduced from 15% of salary to 6%, in line with the wider workforce.