Golden hellos and goodbyes at M&S

Marks & Spencer has paid over £20m for welcoming its new ceo and saying goodbye to his predecessor. In a bid to welcome new chief executive Mark Bolland to its company - Bolland received a £13.8m golden hello. Another golden handshake was offered to former boss Sir Stuart Rose, who received a £8.1m goodbye incentive.

The hefty payments, revealed in the retailer’s annual report, are likely to anger shareholders who have had several run-ins with the Marks & Spencer board over pay.

The retailer is thought to be planning a shake-up of its executive pay plan which is expected to link remuneration more closely to the strategic blueprint set out by Bolland.

The report also revealed that Marks & Spencer’s new multi-channel guru, former Tesco Direct chief executive Laura Wade-Geary received a golden hello of more than £4m.