Clarksons faces ANOTHER revolt over pay scheme

Shipping broker Clarksons faces yet another shareholder revolt over an ‘unusual’ pay scheme that has paid its boss £67 million in the past decade alone.

Andi Case’s package, which includes an uncapped bonus, makes him one of the highest-earning chief executives of any company that is listed on the London stock market.

Critics say that the performance targets are too easy to reach for Case, who has been at the helm of Clarksons since 2008, to hit the jackpot.

Despite being hit by a series of huge investor rebellions the FTSE 250 company is sticking with its controversial pay policy, which shareholders will vote on at Thursday’s annual meeting.

Influential proxy voting advisers Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and PIRC are urging them to oppose the new plan and the re-election of pay committee chairman Tim Miller.

ISS said Miller was ‘ultimately accountable for the repeated material remuneration concerns expressed in recent years’ and accused the board of ‘a lack of action’ in addressing ‘persistently high shareholder dissent’.

Chaos: The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent shipping rates rocketing in a boost to Clarksons’ shares

Case’s pay was also seven times the average of his peers, ISS added.

It fell last year to £8.7 million from £12.4 million after the profits on which his bonus is based dropped by more than a fifth to £90.6 million due to uncertainty over US trade tariffs.

But even that was still considerably higher than the £5.5 million a typical boss of the elite FTSE 100 made in 2025, according to The Mail on Sunday’s Fat Cat Files.

It prompted nearly half of Clarksons’ shareholders to vote against its pay report, in what was one of the largest backlashes against ballooning boardroom pay last year.

‘While our pay model is unusual in the context of a UK-listed company, it reflects established practice in shipbroking’ and ‘other financial services,’ Miller wrote in Clarksons’ annual report.

‘We continue to believe that this model has served shareholders very well over many years,’ helping Clarksons to become ‘the clear number one shipbroker globally’, he said.

The company has recently taken ‘a proactive approach to shareholder engagement,’ meeting the largest ones ‘at least annually’, Miller added. Clarksons’ shares recently hit a new high after the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz waterway sent shipping rates rocketing, in a likely boost to profits.

It was one of the first of only a handful of companies, including pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca and toothpaste maker Haleon, to make their annual meetings online-only.

Shareholders last month blocked an attempt by major oil producer BP to move a virtual-only format, which campaigners say stifles debate and makes boards less accountable.

Miller told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The executive team has delivered the 23rd year of increased dividend and a resilient performance in a period marked by a difficult geopolitical backdrop.

‘The chief executive officer has not had a base salary increase since 2008 and he and the teams are rewarded on variable compensation depending on performance, aligning compensation with shareholders.’