Among all the press comment on Ian Greer, some interesting things did
emerge - Ian’s taste in slippers (black velvet) for one.
Then there was his salary - reputedly the rather modest sum of pounds
275,000 a year - a figure which pales beside the rather more generous
figures some of his contemporaries command. Take for instance the
directors of GJW. According to the latest set of figures for parent
company GJW Holdings, chairman Wilf Weeks saw his package jump from
pounds 139,630 in 1994 to pounds 400,448 for the year ending 31 December
1995. That of the next highest paid director, co-founder Andrew Gifford,
jumped from pounds 139,713 to pounds 391,100.
Gifford explains that all is not what it seems - much of the money is to
be reinvested in the company.
Apparently the firm’s move to new premises in Westminster means that it
is having to write off all the capital expenditure on the books for the
existing building in the Oval - leaving a large hole in the firm’s
balance sheet.
All very interesting for students of accountancy. But, what does that
leave for poor Weeks and Gifford? Strangely enough, no-one can tell me.
