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Pay is a tricky subject to approach a company director about. Sick of accusations that they are just fat cats whose extreme obesity is the result of lapping up all the extra cream, the directors become prickly when asked to justify their money: 鈥淔irst of all I think that is an extremely cheeky question. Of course we are worth it,鈥� said the chief executive of a leading contractor, before slamming his phone down.

Perhaps that company鈥檚 workers would not agree. This year鈥檚 黑洞社区 top 100 contractors league tables show that, since 1995, the income of the highest paid directors at the UK鈥檚 leading contractors has increased 101% 鈥� taking home an average of 拢427,000 in 2002. At the same time, the average worker in construction has seen a wallet expansion of 47%, to 拢27,200 last year. Mike Foster, a construction analyst with stockbroker KBC Peel Hunt, surmises what the lowly site builder must feel: 鈥淭here is very little correlation between a company being successful and the remuneration of its directors.鈥�

There seems to be some truth in this argument. The best-paid director is at Liverpool-based contractor and housebuilder David McLean; he receives a generous 拢3.6m 鈥� seven times more than in 2001. Yet the company is ranked 93rd by turnover and 66th by pre-tax profit in the contractors鈥� leagues. On the flip side, Amec is easily the biggest contractor by turnover, yet chief executive Sir Peter Mason warrants only the 15th highest pay.

The directors themselves 鈥� unsurprisingly 鈥� argue that their pay reflects their market value. Berkeley chief executive Tony Pidgley, who received 拢1.47m last year, says his money reflects the success of the housebuilder and the support of shareholders, who have to approve the salary at the annual meeting. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to look at the performance of the company. We鈥檝e had a very clear policy to protect the balance sheet; we鈥檝e got 拢200m of cash flow and a 25,000-unit landbank.鈥�

Many directors鈥� pay is skewed heavily towards bonuses, ensuring that their dough is reward for good management. Alan Cherry, chairman of Countryside Properties, says: 鈥淚 have a very low basic salary 鈥� it鈥檚 heavily performance-related. In a not-so-good year, I will not be so well off.鈥�

Cherry may describe his basic salary as 鈥渧ery low鈥� and argue that directors of housebuilders receive little in comparison with their peers at property companies, but he still gets six figures 鈥� the average Countryside employee made 拢26,000 in 2002 and 拢24,800 the year before. Cherry does, however, concede that executive salaries have risen at a steep gradient in recent years: 鈥淭his was the danger of transparency,鈥� he says, referring to the requirement introduced in the mid-1990s that board-level salaries be disclosed in the annual report. 鈥淓very year a remuneration committee and its external consultants look at other companies in the sector and they say 鈥榦ur bloke isn鈥檛 in that pay bracket鈥�, so they pay him extra.鈥�

The general outcry over directors鈥� salaries in the past few years does not solely centre on the pay itself. What has annoyed the public most has been the massive pay-offs that the top dogs get even if they seem to have done a poor job 鈥� whereas the man on the street would be lucky to get a month鈥檚 salary and his remaining holiday time along with his coffee mug and P45. Teather & Greenwood analyst David Taylor says, with no little chagrin: 鈥淚鈥檓 not too struck on the two-year rolling contracts 鈥� it鈥檚 not so much what they get paid that gets up people鈥檚 noses, it鈥檚 when the companies do badly and they get a big pay-off.鈥�

A case in point is the pay-off that Brian Staples, the former chief executive of Amey, received in January. The company had suffered a horrendous, year-long public meltdown. Staples, however, stepped down with a 拢287,000 pay-off in salary and pension contributions. The Guardian described the settlement as a 鈥渃ontroversy鈥�; The Mirror was closer to the money; it commented that 鈥渆very cloud has a silver lining for Brian Staples鈥�.

The best-paid director in the construction sector receives 144 times the wage of the average employee