Surge in UK CEO pay reignites debate over CEO pay caps

The average pay for FTSE 100 chiefs has jumped by 39% to £3.4m according to the High Pay Research Centre.

The median CEO pay package has surpassed pre-pandemic levels with rate 109 times that of average UK worker.

Naturally - as the cost of living crisis hits millions of families - this jump in CEO renumeration has reignited the debate over whether there should be legal caps on the total pay given to the UK's top executives.

Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, last year’s highest paid CEO, was overtaken by Sebastien De Montessus of Endeavour, who earned £16.85m. Pascal Soriot earned £13.86m, followed by Albert Manifold of CRH, who earned £11.68m.

FTSE 100 firms spent nearly three quarters of a billion on executive pay, with £720.21m awarded to 224 executives.

The Trade Union Congress responded by saying "We don't need worker pay restraint: we need CEO pay restrain."

Download the report here

The High Pay Centre in their report is recommending:

1. Worker representatives on pay-setting committees
2. Guaranteed trade union access to workplaces
3. Negotiating bodies to set pay industry pay levels