VISCOUNT Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail & General Trust, saw his income jump from £705,000 to £1.32 million in the year to October 2009.
The increase was partly due to a profit-related bonus – a benefit denied to DMGT’s employees in Bristol, who have been labouring under a pay freeze this year.
The editorial staff of the Bristol Evening Post and Western Daily Press was slashed by almost a third this year with 44 losing their jobs.
But the viscount had words of appreciation for his underlings.
In the DMGT annual report, Rothermere said: “I would like to thank our employees for their magnificent response to the torrid market conditions.
“When the world’s financial system faced meltdown in October 2008, it was clear that we had to act fast to reduce our cost base, particularly in our newspaper divisions. As a result of this, we sadly had to release over 2,500 employees across our businesses,” he said.
Rothermere added he was “impressed” at DMGT’s swift response to the downturn.
DMGT profits fell 23 per cent to £201m – but that was better than the City had expected.
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Paul Breeden