Richard Pennycook’s base salary will go from £1,250,000 ($1,758,124) to £750,000 ($1,054,874). Asides from the cut to his salary, he will see cuts in incentive payments. In total, he will see a 60 percent cut to his total pay package.
Pennycook said the reduction in pay reflects the revised demand of the current job, and he described the business as being back in calmer waters.
The company approved Pennycook’s request for a reduction in pay. The Co-op’s non-executive chair, Allan Leighton, said Pennycook’s move shows the company’s difference in action, as they champion a better way to do business for their communities for for their members.
Last year, the company paid Pennycook nearly £3.6 million, included £1.8 million in bonus pay.
Leighton said the company was in a tricky spot, but Pennycook and his team helped them through it and they got paid accordingly.
Two years ago, former CEO Euan Sutherland stepped down after it was revealed he was going to be paid £3.7M, even though the company reported £2.3 billion in losses.
The Co-operative Group, which has more than 2,700 food stores, as well as 1,000 funeral homes and financial services, reported that its financial results for 2015 included £23M in profit, and that sales in its food stores grew by 1.6 percent.
