BT boss Allison Kirkby sees pay double to £5.6m as telecoms company axes thousands of jobs

The boss of BT’s pay has doubled to £5.6million as it axes jobs.

Allison Kirkby’s salary was £1.1million in the year to March 31 – unchanged from the year before.

She topped this up with extras, including a £1million cash bonus and £3.25million in long-term share awards to be paid out at a later point.

It is the biggest award for the telecoms firm’s boss since Ian Livingston pocketed £9.4million in 2013.

BT said: ‘For the first time, Allison’s total remuneration this year includes the estimated value of her long-term share awards, which will release over the next three years. 

These have benefited from the significant increase in share price since Allison joined as chief executive in February 2024.’

Shares in BT are up 77 per cent since she took over, rising 1.7 per cent yesterday to 206.1p. 

It aims to cut staff to between 75,000 and 90,000 by 2030. 

In the past year, its workforce has dipped 7 per cent from around 116,100 to 108,000 employees.