Punch Taverns boss sees total pay slide 55 per cent in 2009

Punch Taverns boss Giles Thorley took a near-55 per cent cut in his total pay last year, according to the pubco's annual report.

But his pension pot over the next two years is to be given a boost of up to 25 per cent of his base salary, worth an estimated £131,000 annually.

In 2009 Thorley's total remuneration package was £681,000, against 2008's £1.5m, down 54.7 per cent.

In 2008 he made nearly £900,000 through gains made on the release of shares, unlike 2009, when no such gains were made.

The Punch chief executive saw his basic salary remain static in 2009 at £525,000, while his benefits - health cover, car, fuel, etc - fell by a quarter to £33,000.

Thorley was paid no bonus in 2008, but received one worth £60,000 in the last financial year.

Phil Dutton, Punch's finance chief, saw his overall pay package rise 16.5 per cent to £465,000, thanks in part to a six per cent hike in basic pay and the value of his benefits rising more than 10 per cent.

Dutton was paid a bonus of £40,000 in 2009, according to the company's annual report.

Head of Punch's managed pub operations Mike Tye was paid £508,000 in 2009, while Roger Whiteside, who joined the group to head up its leased pub business in November 2008, was paid a total of £397,000.

Jonathan Paveley, the former Punch director who left the pubco in January this year and is now chairman of Cotswold-based Hook Norton Brewery, was paid a total of £642,000 in the year, including an exit payment of £509,000, part of which was "compensation for loss of office".