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July 25, 2017

Guardian chief executive David Pemsel receives pay and perks of £706,000 a year

By Dominic Ponsford

Guardian Media Group chief executive David Pemsel received total pay and benefits of £706,000 last year.

His £600,000 salary was supplement by £13,000 in employer’s pension contributions and £1,000 benefits in kind. He received a further £92,000 “salary supplement” apparently as an alternative to having this paid into his pension fund.

The Guardian has reduced its losses under Pemsel but still made an operating loss for the year to the end of March of £62.5m on turnover of £214.5m.

Last year Guardian Media Group cut around 300 jobs.

Pemsel’s salary compares to the £450,000 which is paid to BBC director general Tony Hall.

Regional press group Johnston Press is comparable to Guardian Media Group in terms of turnover, but made an operating profit of £42m in 2016. Its chief executive Ashley Highfield received total pay of £556,000 last year.

Guardian editor Katharine Viner received a salary of £340,000 and pension contributions of £32,000. This puts her on a par with the BBC head of news James Harding.

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The other top earner at The Guardian is chief financial officer Richard Kerr on a salary of £409,000.

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