MG Rover: Phoenix Four's £20m pay packet

Jul 7 2009 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

“By comparison, Ford senior directors were paid between £1 million and £3 million each per year while presiding over a record £13 billion loss.

“Pension contributions, not previously in place and payable on retirement, were £730,000 per director per year, equating to an annual salary of £100,000 to £150,000 per year, well below industry and FTSE averages.”

The dossier was released just 24 hours after Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced that a Serious Fraud Office investigation was to be launched into the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005 with the loss of more than 6,000 jobs.

Reports at the time of the closure of Longbridge claimed that a £120 million short-term Government loan to MG Rover was favoured by Tony Blair and then Industry Secretary of State Patricia Hewitt but was opposed and vetoed by Brown and Vadera.

The dossier alleges that the £120 million bridging loan offer was “suddenly and mysteriously” withdrawn whilst the Department of Trade and Industry had “briefed negatively” about MG Rover’s finances.