Bosses at Britain's biggest companies have taken a pay cut but continue to earn more than 100 times the average employee.

New research from the High Pay Centre and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that median pay of FTSE100 chief executives was £3.46m in 2018, down by 13% from the previous year.

The figures also reveal that CEOs of these listed companies make 117 times that of the average UK full-time worker, who earns £29,574 per year.

Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, said: "The gulf between the pay at the top and the bottom ends of companies is slightly smaller this year but it's still unacceptably wide and undermines public trust in business.

"We must question if CEOs are overly focused on financial measures and are being incentivised to keep share prices high rather than focusing on the long-term health of their business."


Of the 100 bosses, 43 saw their pay increase last year, with long-term incentive plans accounting for the largest component of executive remuneration.

Meanwhile, gender diversity efforts appear to have yielded little in terms of results, with bosses still more likely to be called Stephen or David than be a woman.

Female chief executives are also taking home less of the £465.4m total payout to FTSE 100 bosses than their some of their male counterparts.

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Earlier this week, research by the consultancy firm Deloitte also revealed similar findings. Almost a third of FTSE 100 CEOs received no increase in base salary, with median salary increases remaining at around 2%.

It also revealed the number of FTSE 100 companies facing a revolt from shareholders over excessive pay for their chief executives fell by around a half - 7% of companies compared to 13% last year.

Image: Report says gender diversity efforts appear to have yielded little in terms of results

Deloitte's annual FTSE 100 executive remuneration report suggests the drop in votes against high pay by shareholders could be attributed to regulatory changes under the new UK Corporate Governance Code.

Stephen Cahill, vice chairman at Deloitte, said "We have seen many companies come forward as 'first movers' in response to new regulatory changes with 29 companies reducing pensions for new hires.

"Without a doubt, executive pensions have been the hottest topic of 2019 and we expect this to continue, with a growing focus on incumbent executives receiving the highest pension rates."