BOC boss walks away with £1.5m

A FORMER director of BOC who unexpectedly quit the industrial gases group has received a payoff totalling £1.5 million.

Dick Grant is the latest to leave BOC with a generous golden handshake. He picked up the equivalent of 15 months' money and his pay-off included a £1 million contribution to his US pension plan, according to the company's annual report.

Chief executive Tony Isaac's earnings dropped from £1.8 million to £1.1 million as profits fell again. His pay has been controversial since it emerged that he received a £750,000 cash bonus for staying with BOC for three years after a failed takeover by a rival company.

Directors at Enterprise Inns, the tenanted pub company, have also done nicely, thanks to soaring share prices and increased profits.

Chief executive Ted Tuppen received more than £1 million in basic pay and bonuses and from cashing in share options. Operations director Gordon Harrison pocketed £1.5 million.

Shares in Enterprise, founded by former accountant Tuppen in 1991, nearly doubled in the last financial year while profits rose 51% to £173 million.

The company will fully integrate the Unique Pub Company's 4,200-strong estate into its own business this year, making it the biggest pub company in Britain with more than 9,000 units.