Dixon gets £550,000 after Regus revival

Mark Dixon, the chief executive and founder of Regus, the serviced office provider, took a 266 per cent pay rise last year, increasing his total earnings from £153,000 in 2002 to more than £550,000, according to the company's latest annual report.

Rudolf Lobo, the group's finance director also cashed in 5 million share options, generating a profit of almost £2.8m.

Mr Dixon, who just four years ago was hailed as one of Britain's 10 richest men, took sharp pay cuts along with the rest of his board in 2001 and 2002 as his company teetered on the edge of receivership.

After once being valued at more than £2.2bn, Regus's shares collapsed in 2001 sending the company to a low of 3p a share, and a market value of just £17m.

However, after a successful rights issue at the end of last year, which raised £55m and saw the group's share price leap 25 per cent, Regus's performance and shares have begun to recover.

The company spokesman Stephen Jolly defended Mr Dixon's pay rise, saying his salary was the same level as four years ago. His total remuneration for the year included a one-off payment of £160m to fund his relocation to the US.

Mr Jolly said: "He took no pay for one year, and now he's essentially gone back to 2000 levels. I don't think there's any extravagance there."