Incentive scheme nets M&C Saatchi bosses £1.8m each

It was a bumper pay day for four top executives at M&C Saatchi today, as the advertising giant announced that bosses including co-founder Maurice Saatchi and chief executive David Kershaw will each pocket nearly £1.8 million in shares.

Jeremy Sinclair, a founding director of M&C Saatchi who was also one of the founders of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1970, and Bill Muirhead, another M&C Saatchi founding director, were the other two to secure the shares. They and Maurice Saatchi, who co-founded S&S with his brother, Charles, before they were ousted and went on to set up M&C Saatchi, still share an office on the top floor of their Golden Square HQ in Soho.

The four were each granted 886,733 shares — worth almost £1.8 million — under a long-term incentive plan, M&C said. Each of the participants paid £97,250 to participate in the scheme three years ago.

Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman, chairman of M&C’s remuneration committee, said: “These awards reflect the strong operational performance of the M&C Saatchi businesses which has led to the group’s outstanding performance compared to its peer group in terms of total shareholder return.”

M&C also said it would hit City expectations for its 2012 financial year, when it opened new offices in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Stockholm and added new clients including Centre Parcs and Virgin Holidays.