Chief executive Euan Sutherland will receive a base salary of £1.5m and a retention bonus of £1.5m for the next two years, regardless of performance. With contributions to his pension and other perks he will receive £3.66m from the mutual organisation.
This follows a year of turmoil at the Co-operative Bank.
Charlotte Webster, director of campaign group Move your Money, said the payout was at odds with the organisation’s ethos.
“The Co-operative Group has clearly lost sight of where it has come from,” she said. “As a Co-op, a core value is that it treats its members and stakeholders on equal terms with no one person taking advantage financially or otherwise.
“To reward Euan Sutherland, the Chief Executive, with £3.6m in a single year is clearly at odds with the foundations of the organisation. We can see, just from the number of people that are now leaving The Co-op bank, that it needs to be reminded of its origins.”
Richard Pennycook, the Co-op’s chief operating officer, will receive a £900,000 salary and a bonus of £900,000 while six other executives will be paid between £500,000 and £650,000 with further retention payments.
