Image caption Mr Bolland's pay package has attracted controversy

Marks and Spencer shareholders have given their resounding support to the company's executive pay plan, despite complaints about the controversial £15m pay package offered to its new boss.

Marc Bolland's pay deal was expected to be voted down by many investors, but 83.8% of voting shareholders endorsed the firm's remuneration plans.

Some 7.9% opposed them while 8.3% abstained, M&S said.

However, some shareholders described Mr Bolland's pay as "obscene".

At the scene Arriving at the Royal Festival Hall for the M&S AGM, shareholders were greeted with a mini tub of clotted cream vanilla ice cream. It's not clear whether this was a deliberate ploy to sweeten up the disgruntled but it seemed to do the trick. After a sumptuous buffet lunch with wine, shareholders trooped into the auditorium. Sir Stuart Rose opened the meeting and received a large ovation when he announced that this would be his last AGM. A regular feature of the Stuart Rose years has been the bringing on stage of a trolley of some of the best-selling items of the previous year. This year a touch of glamour was added when the model Twiggy brought the trolley on stage. Rose then demonstrated the products he was most proud of. He began with lingerie and revealed that M&S would soon begin selling a new bra that enhances a woman's bust by two cup sizes. He got a big laugh when he announced that this product had a waiting list of over 1,200 customers! From the M&S food department, and with a nod to the defeat of Holland in the World Cup final, he presented the new chief executive, who is from the Netherlands, with a Dutch hard cheese. An important function of this year's meeting was to introduce the new man at the top to the faithful. Marc Bolland, who has joined from Morrisons, revealed he had spent his first 10 weeks travelling around the world meeting suppliers and getting to know the staff. He paid tribute to his predecessor and gave a taste of what life under him would be like at M&S, declaring:"I am about evolution not revolution."

And others said it was "asking for trouble."

Golden hello

Mr Bolland's pay package included a £7.5m 'golden hello' as an incentive to leave Morrisons, and an annual bonus of up to 250% of his £950,000 basic salary. He was also awarded M&S shares.

The company's executive chairman, Sir Stuart Rose, emphasised to shareholders more than once that the majority of Mr Bolland's pay packet would only get paid out if he met demanding performance targets.

For his own part, Sir Stuart already agreed in March to a 25% pay cut until he leaves next year, in order to placate shareholders.

Investor anger has been fuelled because last year M&S cut its dividend for the first time since 2000. The pain, say critics, is not being shared.

Shareholder revolts

Marks and Spencer management will be breathing a collective sigh of relief at the vote, having faced shareholder revolts at both of the last two annual meetings.

At last year's AGM, more than a fifth of the shareholders who voted refused to back the re-election of Mr Rose to the board, because of his dual role as chief executive and chairman at the time.

Mr Rose subsequently chose to step down from the chief executive role, creating the vacancy that Mr Bolland was then hired from rival supermarket Morrisons to fill.

Other companies have also faced anger over executive pay recently.

Earlier this month, 47% of Tesco shareholders either voted against its boardroom pay policy or abstained.