The UK's 23 top-paid retail CEOs and bosses – from Tesco and M&S to DFS, John Lewis, and more big names

• Tesco CEO Ken Murphy topped the UK retail pay chart with a £9.23m package last year
• M&S boss Stuart Machin earned £7.1m but faces a pay cut after a major cyber attack
• Ocado and JD Sports bosses saw multi-million pound pay despite losses and falling profits
• Burberry CEO earned £2.6m just before announcing 1,700 global job cuts
• THG boss Matt Moulding took just £32k, waiving most of his salary and all bonuses

As the cost of living continues to stretch household budgets, the UK’s top retail bosses are cashing in with multimillion-pound salaries and bonuses – even as some companies slash jobs or post heavy losses.

New figures show that Tesco CEO Ken Murphy once again topped the rich list, raking in a whopping £9.23 million last year – the highest pay packet in UK retail. His earnings come at a time when many Tesco customers are still feeling the pinch of food price inflation.

Marks & Spencer chief Stuart Machin came in second with £7.1 million, although his pay could be reduced by up to £1.1 million this year following a cyber attack that wiped £1.3 billion off M&S’s stock market value.

Other notable earners include Tim Steiner, boss of online grocer Ocado, who was paid £2.6 million – despite the company reporting a £374.5 million pre-tax loss for 2024.

Régis Schultz of JD Sports took home £2.04 million, including a hefty bonus rise, even as the retailer’s profits dipped, and the total pay of Lyssa McGowan, CEO of Pets at Home, soared to £1.05 million in her first full year.

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Meanwhile, some retail leaders earned big before or during major company cutbacks.

Burberry’s new boss Joshua Shulman was awarded £2.6 million during his first nine months, just weeks before the luxury fashion house revealed plans to axe 1,700 jobs globally.

But not every executive is cashing in. THG boss Matt Moulding earned just £32,000, having waived nearly £727,000 in salary and declined his annual bonus for the second year in a row.

These multimillion-pound salaries are sure to raise eyebrows among consumers, particularly at a time when retail giants continue to increase prices, restructure operations – and in some cases, cut jobs – to protect profit margins.

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