AGM alert: Compass, Sage easyJet
There are some big salaries being put to the vote in the coming weeks, among them the boss of Compass who received a 21% pay rise last year. Graeme Evans reports.
16th January 2026 08:30
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
The annual pay package of Compass Group (LSE:CPG) boss Dominic Blakemore has risen to £10.5 million after the global catering group upped his base salary by 21% at the start of 2025.
A new three-year remuneration policy, which was approved at last year’s AGM, also lifted his annual bonus opportunity to 250% of salary and long-term incentives to 500%.
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The new pay deal came during a strong year for the FTSE 30 company, which generated over two-thirds of its annual revenues haul of $46.1 billion from North America markets.
The company’s AGM takes place in early February, with the annual shareholder meetings of Sage Group (The) (LSE:SGE) and easyJet (LSE:EZJ) also due to take place soon.
Compass Group
When: 10.30am, Thursday 5 February.
Where: Elizabeth Room, 6 Alie Street, London E1 8QT.
How to participate: Online or postal proxy voting instructions must be returned by 10.30am on Tuesday 3 February. More AGM details can be found here.
Who’s in the chair? Ian Meakins, the former chief executive of Wolseley, Travelex and Alliance Unichem, took on the role in December 2020.
How did the company do in the year to 30 September? The catering giant recorded organic revenues growth of 8.7%, with an operating profit of $3.3 billion up 11.7% on a constant currency basis. Over two-thirds of the group’s revenues of $46.1 billion were in North America, where about half of the group’s 590,000 employees are based. Earnings per lifted 11.1% to 131.9 US cents a share. The group, whose dividend policy is to pay out around 50% of underlying earnings, intends to distribute a final dividend of 43.3 US cents per share on 26 February. This increased the total for the year by 10.2% to 65.9 cents a share.
How have shares performed? Up 6% to 2,529p (2,281p on Thursday).
How much is the boss paid? Dominic Blakemore got £10.5 million in relation to the 2024/25 financial year, the highest sum paid to the company’s CEO in the past decade and up from the £9.5 million he received in the previous financial year. The total included cash and deferred shares worth £3.3 million after the annual bonus scheme paid 95% of the maximum opportunity, while the 93.7% vesting of long-term incentives contributed £5.7 million. Chief operating officer Palmer Brown, who runs the North America operation, got a total of £7.2 million.
Has the CEO’s remuneration package changed? Blakemore’s base salary now stands at £1.44 million after he received a 20.8% increase at the start of 2025 and a further 3% rise at the start of this year. Under a new three-year remuneration policy, which was approved by shareholders at last year’s AGM, his annual bonus opportunity has increased to 250% of salary from 200% and long-term incentives from 400% to 500% of salary. The new figure means Blakemore’s salary is broadly in line with the median of the FTSE 30.
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How was variable pay determined? The bonus outcome was 85% linked to profit growth and cash conversion, with food waste reduction and safety accounting for much of the rest. Performance measures under the long-term incentive scheme were weighted 40% on return on capital employed, 40% on adjusted free cash flow and 20% on relative total shareholder return. The company ranked between the median and upper quartile of the comparator group - 27th out of the 75 constituents remaining at the end of the performance period.
How much is the board chair paid? The remuneration committee said Meakins’ fee had fallen significantly behind the market and did not reflect his performance in the role. It has increased the payment from £620,000 to £720,000 per annum, with effect from October 2025.
How did last year’s AGM go? The new three-year remuneration policy received 97.54% of votes in favour, which compares with 67.50% the last time the vote was held in 2022. Last year’s annual remuneration report got 97.49% support.
How’s the company doing on diversity? Two members of the 12-strong board are from a minority ethnic background. The gender split is 42% female, including one senior role.
Sage Group
When: 12 noon, Thursday 5 February.
Where: 5 & 6, Cobalt Park Way, Cobalt Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE28 9EJ.
How to participate: The deadline for the return of proxy voting instructions is 12 noon, Tuesday 3 February. The company intends to reply to all pre-submitted questions relating to the business of the meeting before the voting deadline, as long as these are received by the close of business on 26 January. More AGM details can be found here.
Who’s in the chair? Andrew Duff has held the role since October 2021. The former chief executive of npower was chair of Severn Trent between 2010 and 2020.
How did the company do in the year to 30 September? Underlying total revenues grew 10% to £2.5 billion, reflecting the accounting software firm’s subscription-based recurring revenue model. Underlying profit grew by 17% to £600 million, with the margin up by 150 basis points to 23.9%. Underlying earnings per share increased by 18% to 43.2p. A final dividend of 14.40p a share is due to be paid on 10 February, increasing the total for the year by 7% to 21.85p.
How have shares performed? Up 7% to 1,100p (1,039.5p on Thursday).
How much is the boss paid? Steve Hare’s £4.56 million for 2024/25 was lower than last year’s £5.3 million but the second highest for the role in the past decade. The total included a £881,000 annual bonus based on 48.9% of the maximum opportunity and £2.5 million from the 79.3% vesting of long-term incentives granted in 2022. His shareholding at the end of September was 922% of base salary, well above the company’s guideline of 500%.
What about his base salary? Hare’s salary increased in January by 15% to £1.22 million, in addition to the 15% increase at the start of 2025. The back-to-back increase was part of changes announced in last year’s remuneration policy as Sage sought to address the fact that the CEO’s realised pay significantly lagged the market despite superior shareholder returns.
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How did last year’s AGM go? The new remuneration policy was approved but with 19.28% of votes against. The annual remuneration report got 97% support.
How was variable pay determined? Total revenue growth accounted for 70% of the annual bonus, with the result of 9.8% ranking between threshold and target performance for 28% of the overall maximum opportunity. The vesting of long-term incentives was measured against Sage Business Cloud penetration, 30% on relative total shareholder return performance and 20% against environmental, social and governance measures.
What’s changing in the annual bonus plan? A Rule of 40 metric is to be introduced as a performance measure alongside total revenues. Rule of 40 is a common financial benchmark used to evaluate the performance and efficiency of Software-as-a-Service organisations. It represents the view that the sum of the rate of growth in the revenue plus profit margin should be greater than 40%. It will account for 40% of the 2026 annual bonus, alongside 40% for underlying revenue growth and 20% for strategic goals.
How much is the new finance chief paid? Jacqui Cartin, who joined Sage in 2018 from KPMG, started her new role in January on a basic salary of £650,000. Her predecessor Jonathan Howell, who was appointed in 2018, received a salary of £684,780.
How’s the company doing on diversity? The gender split of the ten-strong board prior to the appointment of Cartin was 40% female, including one senior role. One director is from an ethnic minority background.
easyJet
When: 10am, Thursday, 12 February.
Where: Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 9PF.
How to participate: The meeting is available to attend via the Lumi electronic meeting platform. Shareholders should submit voting instructions no later than 10am, Tuesday 10 February. More AGM details can be found here.
How will EU ownership rules impact shareholders? EU regulations require all airlines with EU operating licences to be majority owned and controlled by nationals of one of the member states of the EU. To ensure that it keeps to the permitted maximum 49.5% of non-EU ownership, easyJet has a contingency plan where it suspends voting rights in respect of certain shares. This is on a "last in, first out" basis, with those affected notified by post.
Who’s in the chair? Former Royal Bank of Scotland and RSA Insurance chief executive Stephen Hester has been in the role since December 2021.
How did the company do in the year to 30 September? Total revenues increased by 9% to £10.1 billion, primarily due to an increase of 4% in seat capacity to 104 million coupled with a yield benefit from flying further and an increase in ancillary revenue including from easyJet holidays. Headline costs, excluding fuel, rose by 11% to £7.2 billion as the group recorded a 9% rise in profit before tax to £665 million. Its net cash position of £602 million rose £421 million over the previous year. The airline intends to pay a dividend of 13.2p per share on 27 March, up 9% on a year earlier and equivalent to 20% of 2025’s headline profit after tax.
How have shares performed? Down 13% to 464p (484p on Thursday).
How much is the boss paid? Kenton Jarvis, who became chief executive in January 2025, received total remuneration of £2.46 million. This included cash and deferred worth £968,000 after the annual bonus scheme paid 65% of the maximum opportunity. The vesting of long-term Restricted Share Plan awards contributed £668,000. His salary for this year has increased by 5.3% to £842,480.
What about the former boss? Johan Lundgren, whose notice period ended on 16 May, got a total of £1.44 million. This included a pro-rated bonus of £247,405 or 60.5% of the maximum and a Restricted Share Plan award worth £962,000.
How was variable pay determined? The structure of the bonus comprised 50% financial measures, a further 30% on a scorecard of performance indicators and a balance of 20% based on individual performance. Financial metrics scored 30% out of the maximum 50%, while cost programme and customer experience metrics resulted in a maximum payout. The long-term Restricted Share Plan award vested in full after underpins were met.
How did last year’s AGM go? The new three-year remuneration policy was approved with 90.87% shareholder support. The annual remuneration report got 91.61%.
How’s the company doing on diversity? The board’s gender split is 40%, including one senior role. One board member is from an ethnic minority background.
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