King Coal walks away with £1m

UK COAL, Britain's largest coal producer, has paid almost £1m to Richard Budge, its former chief executive Richard Budge. Budge, dubbed King Coal after he secured the privatised coal assets for the then RJB Mining in 1994, received a severance package worth £865,717 following his departure from the company in February last year.

The settlement brought his total remuneration for the year to £941,987. In the previous year, Budge received £499,260 in fees and salary.

UK Coal last month reported that it slipped £26.5m into the red last year, despite receiving £21.7m in State aid. The firm, renamed following Budge's departure, is contemplating further pit closures with the possible loss of 2,500 jobs. It recently announced the closure of Britain's oldest colliery, the 140-year-old Prince of Wales colliery in Pontefract, where 600 jobs will go.