Countrywide scraps £20m pay plan ahead of expected shareholder revolt

Struggling estate agent Countrywide on Monday attempted to stave off a shareholder revolt as it axed a controversial pay scheme that could have handed top bosses more than £20 million.

The firm, which is behind the Hamptons International and Bairstow Eves brands, has cancelled the proposals for a new remuneration package due to be put to shareholders at an investor meeting next week.

The proposed “absolute growth plan” could have seen chairman Peter Long, new managing director Paul Creffield and finance chief Himanshu Raja get shares valued respectively at £6 million, £8 million and £7 million.

Countrywide, Britain’s largest estate agent, had wanted to push through the proposals alongside a £140 million fund-raising to keep the company afloat.

It is struggling with central London’s sluggish housing market since the Brexit vote and saw its chief executive Alison Platt resign in January after a series of profit warnings.

This month Countrywide launched a turnaround plan. It hopes to slash its £200 million debt pile and return underlying profits to the £80 million seen in 2016 by 2021.

Countrywide said today it was “pleased with the support” from existing and new shareholders in relation to the raising. Investors appeared to be less upbeat about remuneration changes, and the board has decided the existing policy “should not be amended”.

The update comes after a backlash. Last week advisory firm the Institutional Shareholder Services urged investors to vote against the new incentive scheme, calling it “unnecessarily convoluted”.

ISS’s report said: “No compelling explanation has been provided as to why the proposed arrangement is essential to effectively implementing the group’s strategy and turnaround plan.”