Anger over '£15m for Barclays boss'

BARCLAYS became the latest target of growing investor anger about soaring executive pay as shareholders attacked the bank's board over the enormous salary package awarded to chief executive Matt Barrett.

They said Barclays' deal with Barrett, worth up to £15m over the next three years, was an example of 'leap-frogging remuneration', prompting calls for him to follow the example of Marks & Spencer chief Luc Vandevelde by deferring some of the payment.

The criticism forced chairman Sir Peter Middleton and the head of the bank's remuneration committee, Sir Nigel Rudd, to launch a lengthy defence of Barclays' deal with Barrett. 'He is an extremely successful CEO,' Sir Peter said. 'He has a proven track record in terms of profitability and share price.

'If the business does not perform, Barrett's remuneration will not be as glossy as some of the fancy estimates you see in newspapers. But I hope he gets every penny of it because then every shareholder will have done exceedingly well.'

Sir Nigel said Barrett had 'brought charismatic leadership' to the bank and his salary remained lower than that paid to his American counterparts. 'Some of those packages in the US are mouth-watering with very high salaries and targets that are nothing like the targets expected in UK banks,' he added.