FirstGroup faced a significant shareholder revolt over pay in Aberdeen today as the company vowed to review its remuneration policies.
Shareholders voted 25.5% against the company’s annual report on remuneration, while a further 11.03% voted down a separate ballot on its remuneration policy at the annual general meeting at the Marcliffe Hotel.
About 50 shareholders attended the event, with a number raising questions to the board about chief executive Tim O’Toole’s pay which almost doubled to £2million this year after after he accepted a bonus for the first time in three years.
John McFarlane, who chaired the meeting for the first time since he took over as the group’s chairman in January, said Imelda Walsh, the board’s new chair of the remuneration committee would “take a deep look at this again”.
Alan Walker, a shareholder and employee at FirstGroup, told the board during the meeting he was “disappointed and let down” over the group’s lack of pay restraint.
After the meeting, another shareholder Ellis Thorpe said he had voted against the company’s remuneration but added: “It didn’t bother me, but it is an issue of fairness.”
FirstGroup to review pay policies after shareholder backlash
