Burberry's Christopher Bailey receives farewell presents worth £28,000

In addition to the £13 million he received in salary, bonuses and shares
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
Edwina Langley7 June 2018

Seventeen years in a job is no mean amount of time. Which means when you do decide to call it a day, at the very least you'd expect a pretty decent farewell present, wouldn't you? A 50 quid Selfridges vouchers, perhaps. Maybe a nice pen. A set of theatre tickets (the really good seats).

Or, you might expect something a little more ornate. Worth, say, £28,000...

This - and more, much more - you could expect if you had headed up British fashion brand Burberry, as former President and Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey recently discovered. According to the brand's annual report published yesterday, Bailey was gifted presents worth the not inconsiderable sum of £28,000, which is roughly the same amount as the average UK salary.

It is not known what Bailey received, nor is it known how many gifts he was given. Indeed, whilst the report referenced 'gifts' presented in recognition of Bailey's 'extraordinary contribution to the transformation of Burberry since 2001', it's entirely possible it was just one big prezzie he landed.

So, what could one get for £28k? A super luxe holiday to somewhere hot and far away? A car? A really, really nice watch?

If that has awoken your green-eyed monster of jealousy, do not read on... Because that wasn't all Bailey walked away with. No, he left the fashion house with the tidy sum of £4.2million (in pay, bonus and benefits), plus an estimated £8.5million from shares tagged to his "2014 exceptional award".

It's just not fair, is it?

No, thought a number of Burberry shareholders, a third of which voted against Bailey's exit package last July.

Think you might be in the wrong industry? London College of Fashion offers day and online courses for, thankfully, less than £28k (a lot less). Maybe it's time to sign up.

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