Foxtons and Dominos hit by shareholder revolts over bosses’ pay

Shareholders at estate agent Foxtons and pizza chain Dominos have revolted against pay packages for bosses at the two listed firms.

Both companies, which held Annual General Meetings on Thursday, saw more than a third of investors vote against remuneration reports.

Foxtons has said that almost 40% of its shareholders voted against its annual pay report at its meeting, which was held virtually due to pandemic restrictions.

The estate agent came under fire after it said it would pay bonuses to executives despite using furlough support and business rates relief from the state.

Chief executive Nick Budden was among its bosses to receive a bonus, taking his total pay to £1.6 million.

Two of the largest shareholder advisers, Glass Lewis and ISS, condemned the pay plan which also provided Mr Budden with £569,000 in shares under a long-term reward scheme – for which he will wait five years to receive.

Nevertheless, the revolt from shareholders on Thursday was not enough to stop the company’s pay plan from passing as it secured more than the 50% needed for approval.

It also revealed that almost a third of shareholders, 32.6%, voted against the re-election of Alan Giles, the chairman of its remuneration committee.

The company highlighted a “significant proportion” of voters did not agree with its pay policy and said it will “continue to engage with shareholders to ensure that it understands their views on these issues”.

Meanwhile, takeaway firm Dominos also faced scorn from investors over its remuneration package.

It came after new chief Dominic Paul was offered pay which was 41% higher than his predecessor’s.

It said that 34.9% of shareholders voted against the pay packet, although more than half of votes were cast in favour of the deal.

“The remuneration committee will continue to engage with shareholders to ensure that it understands their views on these issues and is able to consider shareholders’ feedback,” Dominos said in a statement.