Letter: Pay of NatWest chiefs

RUPERT BRUCE'S claim that main NatWest board directors were awarded increases in salary of up to 40 per cent on 1 April is factually incorrect ('NatWest chiefs get huge rises as staff are cut', Business, 24 April). The largest increase received by an executive director was the increase of 16.9 per cent in the remuneration of Derek Wanless, our Group Chief Executive.

Your article is based on a misreading of the executive directors' contracts which your journalist reviewed at our offices on 22 April. The article compares individuals' new salaries, which include directors' fees, territorial allowances, market supplements and basic salary, with basic salaries as at 1 April 1992. It totally overlooks the year-on-year comparison with 1993.

To provide a proper comparison, it is necessary to compare basic salary plus fees, allowances and supplements, as at 1 March 1994 with the new salaries effective from 1 April 1994. On this basis, the average increase is 10.7 per cent.

You refer specifically to the remuneration of John Melbourn and claim that he 'also got 40 per cent more'. In fact, as he was promoted to Deputy Group Chief Executive on 1 March 1994, he received an additional salary rise of 11.7 per cent on that appointment. Consequently, his overall salary increased by 23.4 per cent in the 12 months up to and including 1 April 1994.

Any increases in executive directors' remuneration are reviewed, against market comparisons, by the Remuneration Committee, which is made up of solely non-executive directors.

Simon D Lewis

Director of Corporate Affairs

National Westminster Bank

London EC2