Pubco CEOs may see pay frozen in 2009

A number of leading pubco bosses are expected to miss out on a basic pay increase in the coming year as the companies they run batten down the hatches to save cash.

Results of an anonymous survey of chief executives conducted by thepublican.com​ have suggested that most of those polled would accept an inevitable freezing of their basic pay, as their businesses struggle with the ongoing storm of rising costs, collapsing consumer demand and an uncertain economic future.

Some pubco chiefs have already seen their total remuneration packages cut following the non-payment of bonuses in the last financial year. Punch Taverns' Giles Thorley and Enterprise Inns' Ted Tuppen were two of three chief executives who did not receive a performance-related payment last year, despite big bonuses the previous year.

While such bonus-passing is likely to be repeated in 2009 on a wider scale, the issue of basic pay will surely be addressed too, as pub closures mount and job losses mushroom elsewhere across the UK economy.

In a week when current and former bosses of the UK's leading financial institutions faced a grilling on bankers' bonuses from MPs sitting

on the Treasury Select Committee, speaking privately one City analyst said pubco bosses would do well to be mindful of the current economic climate.

"While these individuals are contracted to receive a certain amount they should - and will - be aware of the state of the market," he said.

"A freeze on basic pay is a distinct possibility for a number of these guys, let alone bonuses, which are highly unlikely," he added.

Punch Taverns' Thorley was the greatest beneficiary in the basic pay stakes in 2008, with his underlying pay rising 16 per cent to £525,000. Mitchells & Butlers' Tim Clarke saw his basic salary rise an inflation-matching two per cent to £550,000, following the company's nightmare property venture with former shareholder Robert Tchenguiz.