Lord Wolfson shares bonus with 19,400 employees who have worked for the retailer since 2010, averaging about £124 each

Lord Wolfson, the chief executive of retailer Next, has gifted a £2.4m bonus to staff – although he still booked a 13% hike in his own pay.

In an email sent to staff on Tuesday, Wolfson said 19,400 employees who had worked for the group since 2010 would share his bonus award, a move that averages out at £124 each.

"Three years ago the Next PLC board awarded me an incentive scheme called a Share Matching Plan (SMP)," Wolfson wrote. "The exceptional gain in our share price has meant that this award has now become more valuable than I could possibly have expected. As I am a shareholder, I have also greatly benefited from the increase in our share price.

"So this year, instead of accepting this reward, I have asked the Board if they will share it out between all the people who have worked for the company during the three year SMP qualifying period. You, and all employees who have been working at Next since June 2010, will be included."

Wolfson said the payments, which would arrive as a one-off in July pay packets, would be worth around 1% of salary to staff – which comes after employees were awarded a 2% pay rise last year.

He added: "I hope you will accept this additional bonus as a gesture of thanks and appreciation from the company, for the hard work and commitment you have given to Next over the past three years and through some very tough times. I remain very grateful for the way in which everyone has helped to navigate our business through this recession."

The Tory peer and Conservative party donor's gesture to staff was revealed in the company's annual report, which also showed that Wolfson had booked a pay rise of 13% to £4.6m in the 12 months to January 2013.

Wolfson also forfeited a further £327,000, which was due under a long-term incentive plan that was capped at £2.5m.

However, during the financial year Next shares rose by almost 55%, as the retailer reported a 3.1% increase in revenues to £3.5bn with pre-tax profits up 9% to £622m.

The performance came against a backdrop of a struggling retail sector, which appeared to have a greater impact on other top high street names and Next competitors, such as Marks & Spencer.