Dunelm under fire over ‘excessive’ £4m pay package for top boss

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Home furnishings chain Dunelm is under pressure over a £4 million pay package for its boss amid accusations that the deal is “excessive”. It comes after Dunelm’s annual report recently revealed that chief executive Nick Wilkinson saw his total pay more than quadruple to £4.04 million for the year to June, from £959,000 the previous year, after picking up £3.4 million in bonuses. “The ratio of the CEO’s pay compared to average employee pay is considered unacceptable, standing at 66:1.” Dunelm’s finance head, Laura Carr, also saw her pay shoot up to £2.5 million from £496,000 the previous year, thanks largely to £2 million in bonus and long-term share payouts. Management remuneration is performance-related and is calculated over multi-year periods in order to incentivise and reward sustained strong performance Dunelm But the pay deal also risks stoking controversy as Dunelm has insisted it should not repay savings made from the business rates holiday, despite the profit boost and a £132 million payout to investors.