Nationwide CEO's £7m pay deal 'not about personal greed'

Nationwide’s decision to approve a new £7 million pay package for chief executive Debbie Crosbie has sparked criticism among some of its members.

The UK’s second-largest mortgage lender and its biggest building society rubber-stamped the pay deal during its online-only AGM on Friday, increasing Crosbie’s maximum payout by 43%, according to reports in both The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Crosbie, who was made a Dame in the King’s Birthday Honours last month, has been at the helm of Nationwide since 2022 and oversaw its £2.9 billion acquisition of Virgin Money, further consolidating its status as a top-tier lender.

For brokers, this means dealing with a mutual that is increasingly operating at the scale of a major bank. The society now ranks behind only Lloyds Bank in the mortgage market.

Members backlash

At the AGM, members challenged the increase in Crosbie’s potential payout, calling it “an obscenity” and questioning whether such a move aligns with the mutual’s principles. “No one needs to earn more than £1m in salary, and certainly not £7m,” said member Ms Andrews. Mr Fisher added: “Does the CEO see both the irony and the hypocrisy of the size of her bonus: an amount in one year that most people would struggle to spend in a lifetime?” Dr Standon said: “One would expect Nationwide to set an example to others.”

Despite the outcry, 94.8% of voting members approved the new pay policy, with only 5% voting against.

Nationwide’s board defended the pay hike and said it was necessary to attract and retain top talent in a sector where competitors such as Lloyds and NatWest offer even larger packages.

“We pay more than most building societies, but then again, we are larger,” said Tracey Graham, chair of the remuneration committee. “We are now the second largest mortgage lender and savings provider in the UK, and yet we pay less than compared to the high street banks. Our job is to ensure that we have the very best leaders here at Nationwide, and we do operate in a competitive marketplace.”

Chair Kevin Parry insisted the decision was about market equity, not personal greed. “I’m very confident in saying this is not about personal greed. This is about equity with people that do similar jobs elsewhere. I don’t think that money is the primary motivation. And it’s not the case that they have themselves asked for more money,” Parry said.

The AGM also featured governance concerns, including a £316 million accounting error discovered by a member and questions about auditor oversight. While the error did not affect profitability, it may raise eyebrows among brokers who rely on the stability and transparency of their lender partners.

Dame Debbie

The furore over pay arrives just a month after Crosbie was named a Dame, an honour she said left her “hugely proud” of her Glaswegian roots. “Lots of people talk about me being a female but I think most of my peer group have come from a much higher social demographic and they tended to be educated in either Oxford or Cambridge,” Crosbie said. “I think having that diverse social mobility as well as gender is really important.”

Crosbie, who started her career at Clydesdale Bank, added: “I grew up in Glasgow, I wasn’t different to any of my peer group, so to be given the opportunity to lead – I’ve had a massively rewarding career. As a woman, I hope that sends a message of opportunity and hope.”