Society chief paid 33% more

FRED Crawley, chairman of Alliance & Leicester, received a pay rise of 33 per cent last year and Peter White, chief executive, was paid 27 per cent more than in 1992, including pension contributions, according to the annual report yesterday.

The building society, which owns Girobank, also paid pounds 200,000 compensation for loss of office to Ian Hamilton, the former group finance director, who left last September.

The increase in Mr Crawley's pay to pounds 191,000 reflected additional workload, time put in and level of responsibility, the society said. Mr White's increase in total remuneration of pounds 55,000 to pounds 262,000 included a pounds 31,000 profit-related bonus and a pounds 21,000 pension contribution.

Total bonuses paid by the society to directors rose from pounds 16,000 in 1992 to pounds 135,234 last year. They are based on profit performance in the previous year and 'achievement of personal goals', and may include a discretionary element decided by the remuneration committee, the report said.

Bonuses look likely to rise further this year, since the society's 1993 profits shot up 65 per cent to pounds 205m before tax. The report also revealed that four directors, including Mr White, were on three-year contracts.