Directors win record 'golden handshakes'

RECESSION-HIT companies are paying out record 'golden handshakes' to redundant directors, according to a report published today.

The union-financed Labour Research Department calculates that at least nine senior managers have been paid more than pounds 400,000. Ninety leading companies in the survey paid 227 departing directors a total of nearly pounds 33m, the department estimates.

Researchers called for a tightening of the rules governing disclosure of details by companies. At the moment, organisations do not have to reveal who was paid what, so only average pay-outs can be calculated in many cases. The survey covered firms devoting pounds 100,000 or more to pay-offs.

The largest golden handshake went to Gordon Owen, former managing director of the telecommunications group Cable & Wireless, who received at least pounds 568,000.

'While all these directors are well cushioned against the effects of unemployment, they can only look with envy across the Atlantic,' the department said. It is believed that N J Nicholas, former head of Time Warner, the American entertainment group, was paid a redundancy package worth up to pounds 26m.

By comparison, Sir Kit McMahon's controversial pounds 550,000 golden handshake from Midland Bank paled into insignificance.

Sometimes companies insisted on 'riders' to the golden handshakes. Chloride, the batteries group, paid out more than pounds 240,000 to three directors, but insisted that they should not work for the company's competitors for a period of time.