// Primark bosses and parent company AB Foods face pay cuts as coronavirus pandemic continues
// Base pay has been slashed by up to 50%
Primark executives and seniors at parent company AB Foods have slashed their pay by 50 per cent amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Primark chief executive Paul Marchant, AB Foods chief executive George Weston and the group’s finance director John Bason have all requested for their base pay to be temporarily slashed by 50 per cent during the crisis.
Meanwhile, all non-executive directors on the AB Foods board, including chairman Michael McLintock, have seen their base pay cut by 25 per cent.
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“The board, including the executive management team, believes that these steps are appropriate given its expectation that full year earnings will now be much lower than envisaged at the start of the financial year,” AB Foods said.
“The board is acutely aware that many Primark employees will see their livelihoods affected by Covid-19.
“Measures to reduce operating costs across Primark continue to be developed and implemented”.
In March, AB Foods warned of the impact of the outbreak as it scrapped full-year guidance.
Moreover, Primark does not operate an online business and its stores have not been open since March 21.
The fashion retailer withheld its quarterly rent last week in a bid to force landlords to consider revising terms urgently as the pandemic affects trading.
The move pertained to 110 of its leasehold properties in the UK, and the quarterly rent was due on March 25.
Separately, fashion group Arcadia said it has furloughed 14,500 of its 16,000 employees, while senior leaders take a pay cut of 50 per cent as a result of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The group’s senior leadership team and board will take salary cuts of between 25 per cent and 50 per cent, while group chief executive Ian Grabiner has elected to receive no salary or benefits until the pandemic ends.
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