High Pay Centre

Group of people on House of Commons terrace smiling holding reports

Discussion around seated breakfast table

Timi and Will holding copies of the report

This morning the Fairness Foundation and the Black Equity Organisation launched our new joint report in Parliament on the UK’s racial wealth gap.

Combining evidence and case studies, it reveals the scale of racial wealth inequality today.

Read more 👇
fairnessfoundation.com/a-tale-of-tw...

UK bank bosses pay at highest level for years - High Pay Centre Such sizeable pay increases are now unsurprising within a broken executive pay model. A guest blog by head of research Paddy Goffey.

UK bank bosses pay is at its highest for years. The bosses of Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest just received a total £5m pay rise - a 28% increase.

Their employees pay rise? Just 5.6%.

Analysis on how this is unsurprising in a broken executive pay model: highpaycentre.org/uk-bank-boss...

UK bank bosses’ pay hits highest level in more than a decade Barclays chief collected £15mn last year, with Lloyds and NatWest leaders pocketing £7.4mn and £6.6mn respectively

If the government wants to regain public trust and demonstrate it prioritises the wider public over big business, it should take action to curb runaway executive pay. Mandating worker representation on boards would be a strong first step.
www.ft.com/content/22a1...

UK bank bosses’ pay hits highest level in more than a decade Barclays chief collected £15mn last year, with Lloyds and NatWest leaders pocketing £7.4mn and £6.6mn respectively

It is hard to believe that all three have performed so exceptionally in the past year to justify such rises, yet this remains typical within a broken executive pay model.
www.ft.com/content/22a1...

UK bank bosses’ pay hits highest level in more than a decade Barclays chief collected £15mn last year, with Lloyds and NatWest leaders pocketing £7.4mn and £6.6mn respectively

The sums being paid to these CEOs are not only significantly higher than the average FTSE 100 CEO but also represent substantial increases over their pay from just a year ago, far exceeding inflation or wage growth in the wider economy.
www.ft.com/content/22a1...

Why it’s time for CEO-to-worker pay caps A new approach based on CEO to worker pay gap caps could ensure execs are committed to providing a public good, as opposed to being driven solely by financial incentives.

Few examples better illustrate the UK’s broken corporate model than thousands of homes across Kent being left without water. Our researcher, Paddy Goffey, writes in
@LeftFootFwd outlining the need for CEO to worker pay gap caps in such failing industries: leftfootforward.org/2026/01/why-...

The govt came to power claiming to be pro worker and pro business, but pro-business shouldn’t mean caving to the most regressive demands of the business lobby. Nor should good regulation be used as an excuse for poor growth. Our statement on the govt scrapping the corporate governance and audit bill

High Pay Centre Statement on the Government's decision to scrap its planned Corporate Governance and Audit Reform Bill - High Pay Centre The decision to abandon its Corporate Governance and Audit Reform Bill is a missed opportunity, based on the myth that effectively regulating business is bad for growth.

The government's lack of ambition on corporate governance reform is disappointing. Abandoning its Corporate Governance and Audit Reform Bill is a missed opportunity, based on the myth that regulating business effectively is bad economics. highpaycentre.org/high-pay-cen...
1/9

Since it is early in this government's term, there is still time for ministers to rethink such decisions and work with ourselves and others to help build a business model which enables a stronger economy and better social outcomes too. The two are not mutually exclusive. 9/9

While we have warmly welcomed the government's actions on boosting employment rights, including the passage of the Employment Rights Act, this direction of travel does not bode well for the implementation of this legislation either. 8/9

We support such measures because we believe this approach to business will not just benefit workers, the environment, consumers and wider society, but will also help to support better, more sustainable businesses. 7/9

The High Pay Centre has long called for policies such as the inclusion of worker directors on boards and revising directors' duties to ensure they prioritise the interests of all stakeholders and not just shareholders. 6/9

It also sends out a message that demanding better practices from companies is anti-business or anti-growth. A government which is truly pro-business and pro-worker would not be making such decisions. 5/9

This decision follows on from the similarly disappointing decision by the Treasury to scrap the Shareholder Revolt Register. This won't stop shareholders challenging board decisions, but it will make scrutinising companies harder. 4/9

While there is of course a debate to be had on the pros and cons of various forms of regulation, abandoning the bill altogether prevents such a debate from happening in the first place. 3/9

From Carillion to P&O and the water companies, we have seen how poor corporate governance and disregard for workers can harm not only workers, but consumers and the general public's faith in the ability of big business to have a positive social impact. 2/9

High Pay Centre Statement on the Government's decision to scrap its planned Corporate Governance and Audit Reform Bill - High Pay Centre The decision to abandon its Corporate Governance and Audit Reform Bill is a missed opportunity, based on the myth that effectively regulating business is bad for growth.

The government's lack of ambition on corporate governance reform is disappointing. Abandoning its Corporate Governance and Audit Reform Bill is a missed opportunity, based on the myth that regulating business effectively is bad economics. highpaycentre.org/high-pay-cen...
1/9

Recruiting new members to join the High Pay Centre board - High Pay Centre The High Pay Centre is recruiting new members to join its board ASAP with a particular need for those with relevant fundraising experience

The High Pay Centre is recruiting new members to join our board and support our work on challenging excessive inequality and fighting for a more inclusive business model. We particularly welcome applicants with experience in fundraising. highpaycentre.org/recruiting-n...

The message from Patriotic Millionaire's campaign is clear: the gap between those at the top and the rest continues to grow bigger by the day. It's time to win back power and secure a fairer world.

South East Water boss in line for £400,000 bonus despite outages Exclusive: David Hinton, who faces calls to resign, will receive payout regardless of performance if he stays until July 2030

This bonus appears to be rewarding substandard performance and a poor quality of service for customers, while also removing accountability for these failures. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

‘Fat Cat Tax’: Make companies pay for extreme inequalities FTSE 100 bosses have already earned a year’s pay in just 3 days 😳 It’s time to tackle extreme pay gaps. Sign the petition now and support a new tax to tackle extreme pay.

Have you signed our petition yet?

We are calling for a tax on companies that pay their executives vastly more than their workers.

If you think more needs to be done to keep extreme executive pay in check, please sign the petition here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fa...

‘Fat Cat Tax’: Make companies pay for extreme inequalities FTSE 100 bosses have already earned a year’s pay in just 3 days 😳 It’s time to tackle extreme pay gaps. Sign the petition now and support a new tax to tackle extreme pay.

Have you signed our petition yet?

We are calling for a tax on companies that pay their executives vastly more than their workers.

If you think more needs to be done to keep extreme executive pay in check, please sign the petition here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fa...

By this time yesterday FTSE 100 CEOs had already made more this year than an avg UK worker earns all year.

Our Interim Director @andrewspeke.bsky.social explains how we can start to tackle extreme pay inequality. Sign our Fat Cat Tax petition here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fat-…

skyscrapers in London's City with text overlay that reads High Pay Findings

📈New research from the @highpaycentre.bsky.social shows that FTSE 100 CEOs earn the median full-time worker’s annual salary in just over two days.

Sensible measures such as worker representation on boards should be advanced without delay.

🔗 www.theguardian.com/business/202...

‘Fat Cat Tax’: Make companies pay for extreme inequalities This year, the average FTSE100 CEO took less than three days to earn what the typical UK worker will in all of 2026. In the case of Melrose, where the CEO earned 1509 times the median UK salary, it wi...

If you want to see companies pay for contributing to such extreme inequality, you can sign our petition for a 'Fat Cat Tax' here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fa...

The highest paid FTSE 100 CEO in 2025 took just over two hours to earn the same as the typical UK worker will all year.

This level of inequality is both morally unacceptable and damaging to society.

Can we really justify a top boss earning 1509 times the typical worker?

Thanks to @highpaycentre.bsky.social for showing how deep inequality runs. Is a CEO worth 1500 of the rest of us?

We've (naturally) run the numbers for unpaid carers too; Melrose's CEO package is over 13,600x what carers live on. Our priorities are upside down. Let’s change them.

‘Fat Cat Tax’: Make companies pay for extreme inequalities This year, the average FTSE100 CEO took less than three days to earn what the typical UK worker will in all of 2026. In the case of Melrose, where the CEO earned 1509 times the median UK salary, it wi...

The good news is you can do something about it: sign the @highpaycentre.bsky.social's petition for a fat cat tax that disincentivises this kind of wild pay inequality!

Fat Cat Day 2026 - High Pay Centre Data shows the average FTSE 100 CEO will take just over two days to earn the median UK worker's full time annual salary. Median FTSE100 CEO pay amounted to £4.398 million (excluding pension), 113 time...

We can’t go on like this.

In just two days, the average FTSE 100 CEO has made a median workers full time annual salary.

The right calls this “wealth creation”.

It’s wealth extraction.

Time to tax the rich.

@highpaycentre.bsky.social

highpaycentre.org/fat-cat-day-...

‘Fat Cat Tax’: Make companies pay for extreme inequalities This year, the average FTSE100 CEO took less than three days to earn what the typical UK worker will in all of 2026. In the case of Melrose, where the CEO earned 1509 times the median UK salary, it wi...

If you want to see companies pay for contributing to such extreme inequality, you can sign our petition for a 'Fat Cat Tax' here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fa...