The boss of Sainsbury's has pocketed a £3.8 million pay and bonus package, the supermarket chain has revealed. It comes as the retailer faces criticism for increasing the size of dividends by nearly a quarter to £300 million while customers struggle with the cost of living crisis.
Chief executive Simon Roberts earned £2.8 million in bonuses for the year to March 5, in addition to his annual £875,000 salary and other benefits. The gigantic deal includes a yearly bonus of £1.7 million and £1.1 million in long-term incentive scheme shares.
Mr Roberts picked up £1.3 million the previous year. He started in his role part-way into 2020/21, taking over from Mike Coupe in June 2020.
Last year Mr Roberts – formerly the group’s retail and operations head – waived his £1 million annual bonus due to the Covid pandemic. Sainsbury’s said his pay for 2020/21 would have been £2.9 million on a like-for-like basis had he not forgone his bonus.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed food inflation grew by 6.8% in April, on the back of sharp increases for meat and dairy products, while wider inflation has already reached an eye-watering 9%. Sainsbury’s last week pledged to invest more than £500 million into cutting prices for customers by March 2023.
In addition, since May, Sainsbury’s has been paying the real living wage rates to all its directly-employed staff – one of the first major retailers to do so. But it does not yet do so for third-party contractors, such as cleaners and security guards.
Investors will get to vote next month on a resolution filed by a coalition of shareholders led by ShareAction calling for the chain to pay the “real living wage” to all its workers by July 2023. The £300 million dividend sum is the largest since 2015 and is up 24% on 2021.
The High Pay Centre has been reportedly criticising Sainsbury’s for the decision on dividends. It has urged businesses to “do the right thing by shareholders, customers and workers” alike.
