No ordinary paydeal for Marks & Spencer chief

Feb 8 2010 by Chris Knox, The Journal

THE £15m pay package for incoming Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland was has been defended by the retailer’s current chief, Sir Stuart Rose.

Mr Bolland, the former head of supermarket Morrisons joins M&S as chief executive on May 1, and will get £7.5m in cash and shares to compensate for share schemes forfeited by leaving his old job.

But Sir Stuart said in a report: “At the end of the day, if you’re looking to get the right level of people and that is the market rate, you have to pay the market rate. If you look around that is what big retailer players are being paid at the moment.”

Mr Bolland, who will be paid £975,000 in basic salary at M&S, will also receive a potential bonus worth 250% of salary and a one-off award of shares worth a mammoth 400% of basic pay.

Sir Stuart stressed that Mr Bolland would only gain the payouts if he beat City expectations, although he acknowledged that the issue of soaring executive pay was a “problem”.