Ken Murphy: Tesco chief's pay more than doubles to almost £10m amid unchanged regular wage growth

Tesco boss Ken Murphy has seen his pay deal more than double to almost £10 million for the past year. The supermarket giant’s annual report revealed Mr Murphy has received a pay package worth £9.93 million for the year to February.

It compared with a £4.44 million total pay deal for the previous financial year. Mr Murphy’s latest pay deal was driven by £4.91 million from his performance share plan, on top of an annual salary of £1.64 million and annual bonus of £3.38 million.

It comes after figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed on Tuesday morning that regular average wage growth across the UK remained unchanged at 6% in the three months to March. It was also previously reported that prices in the UK rose by 3.2% in the year to March 2024 - the lowest rate since September 2021.

Alison Platt, chair of the Tesco remuneration committee, said: “This pay award reflects the fact Tesco has delivered for all of its stakeholders over the last year – from its most competitive-ever customer offer, to its record investment in colleague pay.

“It also recognises the strong performance of the business while at the same time reflecting the complexities of managing a business of the size and scale of Tesco. Our remuneration policy is benchmarked against the policies offered by other FTSE 50 companies and comparable international roles.

“A large proportion of the total package has been achieved because the business met stretching targets in a highly competitive sector and worked to create value for customers, colleagues, suppliers, communities and shareholders.

“Tesco remains committed to a competitive and fair reward package for all colleagues and over the last two years we have invested more than £800 million in colleague pay, as well as significantly enhancing the range of wellbeing benefits we offer.”