British large companies' bosses paid 183 times average UK worker

HSBC Group CEO Stuart Gulliver speaks during a ceremony launching a commemorative 150th anniversary banknote in Hong Kong March 4, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON -- The average pay of FTSE 100 CEO, or chief executives of British listed blue chips, climbed to 4.964 million pounds (or $7.8 million) in 2014, approximately 183 times the average full-time British worker, according to a report released Sunday.

FTSE 100 CEOs' pay last year witnessed a slight increase from 4.923 million pounds in 2013, but a more drastic rise from the 4.129 million pounds average in 2010, said the London-based think tank the High Pay Centre in its research report.

The report showed that the top 10 highest-paid CEOs alone were paid over 156 million pounds between them. Last year, the average pay multiple of FTSE 100 CEO against the British worker climbed to 183 times from 182 times in 2013 and 160 times in 2010.

The think tank noted that although shareholders have the power to voice their opposition to executive pay policy at company annual general meetings, the average vote against pay awards across the FTSE 100 was merely 6.4 percent.

Deborah Hargreaves, Director at the High Pay Centre, commented: "Pay packages of this size go far beyond what is sensible or necessary to reward and inspire top executives. It's more likely that corporate governance structures in the UK are riddled with glaring weaknesses and conflicts of interest." (1 pound = $1.56)