Bosses at Britain’s biggest companies have seen no reduction in their pay relative to the average pay levels in 2022, a new survey has found.
Analysis by the High Pay Centre think tank found the median ratio of FTSE 100 chief executives' pay was 80 times higher than for the average UK employee and 119:1 times the lowest paid.
Among FTSE350 companies the ratio was 57:1 for average employees and 75:1 for the lowest paid.
BP’s ex-boss Bernard Looney had the highest ratio at 421 times, though he has now lost most of his remuneration after being fired for not disclosing a relationship with a colleague.
“Our biggest companies have failed to share pay more fairly during the cost of living crisis,” said Mubin Haq, chief executive of abrdn’s Financial Fairness Trust, which funded the research.
The High Pay Centre said pay ratio disclosure was important “because living standards and socio-economic inequality are shaped by the pay packages awarded by large employers”.
It wants the disclosure requirement to be extended so that companies give more detail on how many workers fall into different pay bands and how many contractors are employed.