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Morrisons shareholders have overwhelmingly voted against the retailer’s remuneration proposals which included paying David Potts, chief executive, £1.7m in bonuses, according to the BBC.
Last year all Morrisons colleagues had their bonus “significantly enhanced” and paid early to recognise their “extraordinary commitment, innovation, selflessness” and hard work during the past critical year.
As part of the committee meeting, the board hoped that this year its executives who in their opinion “demonstrated those same qualities” would also be able to receive remuneration.
However, in these circumstances, the committee believed that it was appropriate to apply “some discretion” to the remuneration of the senior executives owing it to “adjusting for direct Covid costs”.
Although the vote was non-binding, the retailer claimed it would be engaging with shareholders to understand their views and allowing them to make the case for why discretion was used.
Morrisons said in a statement: “It is a matter of sincere regret to the committee that it clearly has not been able to convince a majority of shareholders or the proxy voting agencies that this was the right course of action.
“In these circumstances, the remuneration committee believed that it was appropriate to apply some discretion to the remuneration of the senior executives.”
They added: “We will be engaging with these shareholders to understand their views and will carefully consider the flexibility that we seek as part of the board’s decisions for the 2022 AGM.”
