Boohoo bosses in line for £150m bonus in new incentive plan

The retailer, which owns brands including Nasty Gal, Pretty Little Thing, Coast and Karen Millen, has been one of the sector’s continuous success stories since floating in 2014.

Sales have again boomed during lockdown and the company announced today that bosses including co-founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane would be in line for huge bonuses.

Boohoo said today that its remuneration committee had created a long-term incentive plan designed to “ensure that the group’s leadership team is motivated” to continue “the exceptional levels of performance that [Boohoo] has delivered since IPO”.

Under the scheme, top executives would share a maximum payout of £150m if the retailer’s market value can be increased 66% to £7.55bn by June 17, 2023. At the lower end, if market capitalisation reaches £6.29bn in that time, the payout fund will be £50m.

Participants in the scheme include Kamani and Kane and chief financial officer Neil Catto. Also included in the plan is Samir Kamani, son of Mahmud and chief executive of menswear brand boohooMan.

The remaining pot will be used to incentivise other individuals in the wider management team.

Boohoo is electing not to put the plan to a shareholder vote, but said the remuneration committee had consulted on the proposal with shareholders.

“The remuneration committee has undertaken some shareholder consultation and taken on board feedback received,” the retailer said.

“The committee believes that the interests of shareholders will be best served by granting the awards immediately to the recipients without recourse to a shareholder vote, which will ensure that they are immediately incentivised to deliver stretching share price growth for the benefit of all Boohoo’s shareholders.”

Group chief executive John Lyttle is not included in the new scheme, as he has his own agreement for a £50m bonus if the company’s market value reaches £6bn by 2024.