Bosses should be paid more

One of Britain's most successful business leaders has called for the bosses of listed companies to be paid more to stem the drain of talent to unlisted companies with more generous remuneration deals.

Sir Ralph Halpern, former chairman and chief executive of Burton Group and one the original 'fat cats' in the 1980s, told The Times that "there has to be a culture change in the running of large public companies.

“There’s a tremendous chasm between the rewards of running a private company and the strains and lesser rewards of running a public company. This has to be addressed by people in the City.”

He also suggested that listed company executives did not try as hard as privately backed ones. “Those at the helm of companies that are publicly listed must feel motivated to perform at their best rather than keep so much in reserve.”