Home furnishings chain Dunelm is under pressure over a £4million pay package for its boss.
Shareholder advisory group Pirc has advised investors to vote against the firm’s pay plans at its annual general meeting next Tuesday, after chief executive Nick Wilkinson’s pay more than quadrupled to £4million for the year to June, from £959,000, including £3.4million in bonuses.
Shares worth £2.8million under an incentive scheme vested, and he got a £570,000 annual bonus.
Rewards: But shareholder advisory group Pirc has advised investors to vote against Dunelm’s £4m pay package for chief exec Nick Wilkinson (pictured)
Pirc stated that the ratio between CEO’s and average employees’ pay was unacceptable at 66 to 1.
Pay for Dunelm finance head, Laura Carr, shot up to £2.5million from £496,000 the previous year, thanks largely to £2million in bonus and long-term share payouts.
The sales of Dunelm have surged since Covid-19 when Britons spent big on their houses and gardens. It has also seen a 44% jump in its annual profit.
According to its annual report, it stated that “Management remuneration” is performance-based and calculated over multiyear periods in an effort to encourage and reward strong performances.