Fat cat pay still soaring

EXECUTIVE pay has soared over the past decade. Some 178 directors took home more than £1m last year and the total pay bill for the 637 leading executives topped £500m.

ICAP's Michael Spencer headed the list with a package of £4.9m, a 34% increase. He was closely followed by BP's Lord Browne, who took home £4.8m, and Man Group's Stanley Fink, whose pay rose 18.6% to £4.5m. 'Over the last couple of years the City has dominated the list,' said Neal Moister at Labour Research, who carried out the survey.

His calculations include annual and long-term bonuses, payments in lieu of pension contributions and benefits in kind. Moister said: 'It is a continuation of ten years of massive pay increases for the boardroom.'

The biggest percentage pay rise was that of Tom Kirby, of Games workshop. His £1m three-year bonus pushed his earnings to £1.27m - up a staggering 368.9% last year.

Barclays Matt Barrett also enjoyed a rise of more than 100% as his pay soared to £3.9m.