That is a high-risk ploy. It may sound finely balanced but it only took 12pc of Unilever’s shareholder base to speak out against its plans to up sticks to Rotterdam for the company to jettison the plan. Within weeks of the snub, boss Paul Polman had stood down, and chairman Martijn Dekkers followed a year later. Ferguson’s board can’t afford a similar revolt.
Executives’ pay cuts unlikely to last
There’s a growing school of thought, or a sense of hope at the very least, that some good will come out of this crisis. The theory is that the greatest healthcare emergency of our lifetimes could be turned into an opportunity to forge a fairer and more inclusive society in which call centre staff, supermarket employees, cleaners and other so-called front line workers are more valued.
Among the positive changes that it is hoped we might see is a complete overhaul of executive pay. Only a red in tooth and claw capitalist would disagree that boardroom remuneration spiralled out of control long ago.
Although there has been a slight decline in median remuneration, the average FTSE boss still earned £3.5m last year, meaning it took just 33 hours for a top executive to earn more than the typical UK salary of £29,559.