At a time of global protests against financial excess, research just released by Income Data Services suggests FTSE 100 directors received pay rises of 49% last year. At the same time, pay deals in the private sector got rises of 2.6%, half the level of inflation – effectively a pay cut. Performance of the FTSE 100 is below where it was in 2007/8 so shareholders are not benefiting either.

Despite different ways of cutting the figures, the concern remains the same - top pay is out of kilter with both company performance and, increasingly, with society's expectations.