Didn't stop the CEO and his predecessors paying themselves something near £20m quid over the last 5 years or so, though. From a company valued at just £69m.
I'm all in favour of big rewards for top performance, but this level of rewarding failure is just bizarre - and of course it's we taxpayers who end up footing the bill
This is a massive issue, and is an area that clearly needs looking at closely. There is something fraudulent about executives in charge of a failing company lining their pockets in this way, then leaving employees and creditors hanging in the wind. This sort of behaviour needs to be treated and prosecuted as fraud.
It's particularly questionable where it involves the purchase of a failing company for peanuts, followed by massive bonuses for the senior management prior to filing for bankruptcy, as was the case with Austin Rover and Debenhams for example.
The prospect of asset seizure and maybe custodial sentences might help to concentrate the minds of people in such a position
