THE chief executive of Irn-Bru maker AG Barr has seen his bonus trebled as his pay package broke through the million pound mark while overseeing the controversial reformulation of its famously sugary recipe to avoid the sugar tax.
Roger White, who has been CEO for 14 years, has seen a rise in his pay package, which include bonuses, pension contributions, benefits and long term incentives, rise by £309,000 in a year to £1,279,000.
The 31 per cent annual increase for the year to January, 2018 comes as the Cumbernauld-based drinks maker manage to grow profits last year despite having to change the drink's recipe and shouldering higher costs from a weaker pound.
The Scottish firm stopped making the original full-sugar version in early January, ahead of the introduction of a new soft drinks sugar tax in April.
Mr White was given £353,000 in performance bonus for last year, three-and-a-half times more than the previous year, while pension contributions doubled, rising from £157,000 to £306,000.
Sugar tax to hit consumers amid reformulations to escape levy
His basic salary rose by just £8,000 to £451,000, while he also gained £33,000 in benefits and £136,000 in long term incentives.
Pay packages for all four boardroom executive directors at AG Barr shot up from £2,354,000 to £3,038,000.
The firm stopped making the original full-sugar version early in January ahead of the introduction of a new soft drinks sugar tax in April.
The move prompted a backlash, with fans stockpiling Irn Bru ahead of the recipe change.
But AG Barr said "extensive research and testing" had given it confidence that it had "an excellent taste match".
New reduced-sugar Irn Bru: Makers say most fans won't notice the difference
Mr White said early consumer feedback on the changes had been “broadly positive”, with sales continuing to grow after it was released.
David Ritchie, chairman of the company's remuneration committee said that "against challenging soft drinks market conditions" the AG Barr had managed to see revenues rise in the year by eight percent to £277.7 million.
The company said moves to cut the sugar content of its drinks slashed £1.4m off its bottom line in the year to January 27, while the weak sterling forced it to pay more for imported packaging and ingredients including sugar.
AG Barr still manage to grow pre-tax profits by 4.2 per cent to £45m.
Has AG Barr done the right thing in changing the Irn-Bru recipe?
Mr Ritchie said an annual bonus of "78 percent of maximum" was earned by Mr White, finance director Stuart Lorimer and commercial director Jonathan Kemp "taking into account executive directors' performance against strategic objectives". Andrew Memmott, the supply chain director received a bonus of 74 per cent of maximum.
AG Barr has said it expected 99% of its drinks to be low sugar - containing less than 5g per 100ml - by the time the sugar tax comes into force.
Irn-Brooze: could AG Barr be looking at making Irn-Bru with added alcohol?
This is up from an earlier target of 90%.
AG Barr's soft drinks portfolio includes brands such as Rubicon and Tizer.
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