Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Machin saw his overall pay package rise by more than £2m last year to £4.7m due to a sharp increase in bonuses and share awards.

M&S’s newly released annual report shows Machin’s overall pay rose from £2.71m in the 2022/23 financial year to £4.73m in the year to 30 March 2024.

This was primarily driven by a jump in long-term share awards, which rose from £878k to £2.25m last year, partly driven by a near 50% jump in M&S’s share price since their award.

Machin also received 96% of his performance-related bonus, which rose in value to £1.57m from £1.08m.

His basic salary rose to £818k from £669k and will rise again to £849k in the coming year.

Co-CEO Katie Bickerstaffe, who will leave M&S following its July AGM, saw a similar uplift in pay package, rising to £4.4m from £2.38m reflecting her four-day working pattern.

The pay awards take M&S’s CEO to average pay ratio (compared to the 50th percentile of M&S worker earnings) to 183:1, having been at 50:1 in 2021.

The M&S remuneration committee said the awards reflected performance “exceeding both the budget and external expectations” due to strong volume and value performance across the business and increased market share in clothing & home and food.

During the year overall sales were up 9.3% to £13bn, while operating profit before adjusting items was up 58% to £716.4m.

Writing in the report, chairman Archie Norman said: “Our objective has always been not just to arrest the long-term drift in M&S’s performance but to forge a business capable of sustained growth.

“This year saw growth in sales, market share and profit in almost all our main markets and a much strengthened financial position. We believe, however, that we are in the foothills of what we can achieve.”

M&S shares are up 64% year on year and have more than trebled since late 2022.

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