Nationwide boss picks up £1.1m

NATIONWIDE Building Society - the mutual that prides itself on rewarding members rather than shareholders - paid retiring chief executive Brian Davis £1.1m last year for making its members very happy.

The society said on Monday that Davis collected bonuses of £723,000, more than double his base salary. Philip Williamson, who replaced Davis for the last four months of the financial year, lifted his package to £530,000 with bonuses of £209,000.

A Nationwide spokesman said the bonuses reflected members' satisfaction, which rose from 67.5% of customers to 70.9% in the year to 4 April, according to its own research. 'Our research has shown over a substantial period that they are extremely happy with what we are doing and by our ability to campaign on behalf of consumers,' the spokesman said.

Nationwide customers would have been charged a total of £520m more in the past year had the society priced its products in line with its Plc competitors, compared with £402m the previous year.

The spokesman said the bonuses also reflected a fall in Nationwide's costs from 1.08% of its assets to 1.06%. Davis' package represents a jump of 44% from the previous year, due mainly to his 'three-year, medium-term' bonus of £440,000. Williamson scooped a three-year bonus of £112,000 and an annual bonus of £97,000.

Nationwide's pre-tax profits fell from £465.7m to £325.7m in the latest year. Total assets grew from £71bn to £74.4bn.