While it is hard to make broad comparisons on how businesses choose to remunerate their directors, the analysis reveals an interesting difference between the level of remuneration received by non-executive directors of agricultural co-operatives and retail co-operatives.
Among agricultural co-operatives, while there is an understandable difference between smaller and larger businesses, non-executive directors are compensated on a level with plc counterparts in the sector.
A direct comparison between two similarly sized businesses shows that Wynnstay plc, with gross sales of £414m last year, gives non-executive directors £30,525 a year, while First Milk co-operative, with gross sales of £432m, compensates at £35,539.
Milk Link (now part of the international dairy co-operative Arla) turned over £628m and gave £66,929 to non-executive directors, whereas NWF Group plc turned over £549m and remunerated directors £44,167 each.
Non-executive directors of retail co-operatives, on the other hand, are compensated at a significantly lower level than plc competitors.
Again, the differences between large and small co-operatives are marked. Remuneration ranges from £4,049 a year for Chelmsford Star directors to an average of £42,625 for directors of the Co-operative Group.
When co-op and plc businesses of a similar size are examined, though, the differences are clear. While the £13bn-gross sales Co-operative Group remunerates directors an average of £42,625 a year, the £18bn-gross sales Morrisons plc remunerates at £125,600 – nearly three times that of the Group.
Similarly, the Dunelm Group plc – which turned over £677m in 2013 – compensated directors at an average rate of £50,000 a year. This is more than five times as much as Midcounties, which had far higher gross sales of £943m but remunerated directors at just £8,035.
Read more:
Full collection home
Director remuneration
How much do co-operatives pay their directors?
A tale of two boards: experts and representatives (with case studies)
International perspective: Coast Capital Savings
