£173,000 for boss on the move

THE chief executive of computer services company Xansa has become the latest boss to enjoy a bumper relocation package.

Alistair Cox was lured two years ago from Lafarge's construction business in the Far East.

Latest accounts show that he was paid £173,000 to cover the cost of moving back to Britain. This included help from a 'professional relocation agency, costs of moving goods and storage, fees related to property purchase and an allowance of £30,000 towards miscellaneous costs involving his permanent accommodation'.

Cox, 43, lives in an imposing £1.8m house near Xansa's headquarters in Reading.

The relocation perks boosted his total pay to £707,000. Cox received a one-off signing-on bonus of £161,000 the previous year.

Investors are increasingly concerned that relocation expenses are being used to fatten boardroom pay packets, especially as more companies are looking abroad to hire executive talent.

A Xansa spokesman said: 'The relocation package is relatively small and comparable to other firms of Xansa's size.'

Perhaps the most controversial move involved Helen Weir, former finance chief DIY group Kingfisher.

In 2002, after being promoted to the main board, she was paid £335,000 to move - not back across the Atlantic, but from Hampshire to Buckinghamshire. It shortened her journey to work by just 11 miles.