'An obscenity': Nationwide boss gets £7m pay package

A £7m pay package for the Nationwide chief executive, Debbie Crosbie, has been labelled an "obscenity" and hypocritical by members of the mutual, even as it gained approval at the building society's AGM yesterday.

- Kalyeena Makortoff

Concerned members who tuned into the online-only meeting yesterday morning criticised the board's plan to increase Crosbie's maximum payout by 43%, saying the move was out of touch and did not align with the mutual's principles.

One member, identified as Ms Andrews, said: "No one needs to earn more than £1m in salary, and certainly not £7m." Another member, Mr Fisher, asked: "Does the CEO see both the irony and the hypocrisy of the size of her bonus: an amount in one year that most people would struggle to spend in a lifetime?"

Meanwhile, a third member identified as Dr Standon said Nationwide already had the option of paying Crosbie up to £4.8m, and that pushing that figure to £7m was "an obscenity".

Nationwide argued that Crosbie's pay rises reflected new demands after its £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money, and that its remuneration should be close to packages offered by rivals including Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest.