M&S and Sainsbury’s bosses take home bumper pay amid challenging year
Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Sainsbury’s chief executives received a combined £12.3m in total pay last year, as both retailers reported profit growth despite mounting pressure from cyber threats, competitive pricing and changing consumer demand.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin received £7.1m for the 52 weeks to 29 March, according to the retailer’s latest annual report, up from £5.1m the previous year.
His pay package included £843,000 in fixed pay, a £1.63m bonus, and £4.6m in long-term performance pay, subject to share price growth.
Machin’s pay rise comes alongside strong results for M&S, with pre-tax profits (before adjusting items) rising to £875.5m, up from £716.4m the previous year, and group sales increasing 6% to £13.9bn, driven by 8.6% growth in food and 4.4% in clothing, home and beauty.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
However, the retailer has warned that the recent cyber attack, first hitting M&S in April, could cut up to £300m from profits and has already led to a 14% drop in share price, shaving approximately £2.4m off Machin’s expected pay-out under share-based schemes.
From July, Machin is set to receive a modest 2% salary increase, below the 5% pay rise awarded to store-based customer assistants.
At Sainsbury’s, chief executive Simon Roberts took home £5.18m for the year to 1 March, a rise on the £4.81m he received last year. His package included a base salary of just over £1m, along with £1.94m in annual bonuses and £2.17m in long-term incentives.
Sainsbury’s also lifted its retail operating profits by 7.2% to £1.04bn, with full-year sales up 3% to £31.5bn. The supermarket chain has issued a more cautious forecast for the year ahead, warning of flat profit expectations as competition remains fierce.
Roberts’ base salary rose 3% this month, in line with the pay rise awarded to chief financial officer Bláthnaid Bergin, who earned £2.26m, slightly down on last year’s total of £2.35m due to lower variable pay.
Last year, fellow rerail Tesco was forced to defend its CEO pay after Ken Murphy came under fire after his pay package more than doubled to a record £9.93m.




