Top bosses' pensions average 2.5m

UK bosses are sitting on average pensions of 2.5 million, with the pot for directors of the nation's leading 100 companies standing at close to 1 bill

07:42 09 September 2005

UK bosses are sitting on average pensions of 2.5 million, with the pot for directors of the nation's leading 100 companies standing at close to 1 billion, says a new survey.

Research conducted by the Trades Union Congress indicates that company directors are receiving pensions worth up to 45 times those of the majority of their staff.

If the nation's top directors claimed their pensions now, an average pay out would deliver 167,000 each year, with top executives receiving close to an average 288,000 a year.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Britain's boardrooms have escaped the pensions crisis. Too many directors have closed decent final salary pensions for staff and replaced them with cheaper and riskier schemes."

The TUC claims that company directors have "tightened everyone's belts but their own" in amassing enormous VIP pensions despite already receiving large salaries.

The TUC survey is based on staff and director pensions at 105 of the UK's leading firms and the biggest 100 employers by staff numbers.

Among those with the most generous pensions are BP chairman Lord Browne, who stands to gain 944,000 a year, with recently retired Unilever chairman Niall Fitzgerald enjoying a pension payout equivalent to 852,000 annually.

Less than five per cent of Britain's pension schemes have the assets to meet their future obligations, while in the next 30 years the number of those over the age of 65 will rise from 16 to 25 per cent of the population.

The TUC has lobbied hard in recent years to protect public services pensions, and force businesses to contribute compulsorily to private staff pension schemes.