Barclays directors lambasted in row over pay rises

Pensioners and angry customers clashed with the directors of Barclays Bank yesterday as the row over its chief executive's gargantuan pay packet boiled over at the annual general meeting.

Shareholders deferred any celebration of Barclays' orbital share price and castigated the board for its arrogance, with one shareholder labelling Matt Barrett a "barbarian" and another describing one of the bank's staff as "Hitler".

One called for Mr Barrett to defer some of his pay, which could amount to almost £15m over three years depending on Barclays' performance. His package includes annual pension contributions of £990,000.

Sir Peter Middleton, the chairman, hit back, saying: "If I can spare his blushes, [Mr Barrett] is a very successful CEO. This, alas, is not a secret. The market in which he operates is the toughest there is."

He added: "I personally will be very happy if he gets every penny of [his bonus] because if that happens the business will have done extremely well."

Sir Nigel Rudd, head of Barclays' remuneration committee, said the board needed to retain Mr Barrett's services because it did not wish to recruit a replacement from outside Barclays, and Mr Barrett was grooming "four or five" possible successors. "We would rather not go outside again," Sir Nigel said.

John Stewart, the deputy chief executive, also came under fire for a bonus tied to the integration of the Woolwich building society. "You have all benefited from [the integration], much more than he has," Sir Peter told the meeting.

Much of the ire came from former employees disgruntled by the huge gap between their pensions and those likely to be received by the directors. As Sir Peter offered sympathy, saying that he himself was a pensioner, one politely reminded him: "You are also earning more than £400,000 a year."

Separately, Barclays' French unit was placed under investigation by a magistrate following an inquiry into money laundering allegations. The move did not result from the discovery of new evidence.