Grafton pay bill falls by €700k

TOTAL remuneration outlay at building materials/ DIY group Grafton fell by €700,000 last year, according to the company’s latest annual report.

The Dublin-headquartered group, which owns the Woodie’s retail chain and the Chadwick’s and Heiton Buckley merchanting businesses, recently reported a decline in annual sales from €2.67 billion to €1.98bn, due to a sharp fall in market demand in 2009.

The company has not increased its basic salary payments to directors since July 2007. That said, with changes in pension allowances and other benefits, total remuneration levels fell from €3.3 million in 2008 to €2.6m last year.