Six pub management couples at JD Wetherspoon have entered the salary super-league by earning £100,000 last year. The average single manager earned about £25,000 plus a bonus in the region of £5,000 to £6,000 as well as benefits such as free accommodation. But managers at the company's biggest pubs have seen bumper salaries after hitting profits targets and earning high scores in standards checks, which can produce bonuses of up to 50% of basic salary. A "good many" management couples earned between £50,000 and £70,000, chairman Tim Martin said. JD Wetherspoon staff have shared record performance-related bonus payments of £7.8m in the first six months of the company's trading year. Martin claimed the bonus scheme was now more generous than that operated by the John Lewis store, which paid 2% less than the Wetherspoon average of 12% bonus to every employee. The bonus structure at JD Wetherspoon with average managers achieving a 25% bonus on top of salary has led to the lowest-ever level of manager turnover at 11% this year compared to a figure of 21% 10 years ago. Martin said: "It's a service business and customers have a lot of choice. It's important that we're giving an incentive for staff to go that extra mile and give good service. I believe it's probably the most generous scheme in the pub industry across the board." l JDW results p10 l Leader comment p16
