Daily Express: Rock boss in storm over £760k payoff

By David Pilditch

CRISIS-hit Northern Rock will be plunged into a new row today when it reveals its former boss Adam Applegarth got a £760,000 golden handshake.

It had been thought that Applegarth, 46, had walked away from the wreckage of the Rock with £380,000 - six months' wages.

But the bank's annual accounts to be published today will show his reward for failure was double that amount. He will also be able to draw a £200,000-a-year pension at 55.

Yesterday Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "It is an insult to the millions of Northern Rock customers, shareholders and employees who have suffered due to his incompetence.

"It is outrageous that someone who brought the bank to the brink of destruction and subjected taxpayers to liabilities worth billions of pounds should be rewarded for failure. It doesn't look good that the Government appears to be sanctioning payouts of this size to someone who played a big role in the bank's demise."

Matthew Sinclair, of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: "For the chief executive who led Northern Rock to this disaster to be so handsomely rewarded is absolutely shocking."

It comes days after it was announced that the Rock will shed a third of its workforce - more than 2,000 jobs over the next three years.

Graham Goddard, deputy general secretary of the union Unite said:

"Anyone whose actions contributed to the problems at the bank should not walk away with any reward. We want a full investigation into the bank's troubles."

Applegarth earned an estimated £6million in share deals, pay and bonuses in the last five years. He is said to have sold more than £2.6m -worth of shares at top prices. He also reportedly urged thousands of employees and investors to buy bank shares when the company was facing trouble.

Since leaving his job last December, Applegarth, who has two children, has been holed up in his £2.5 million mansion in the village of Matfen, near Newcastle upon Tyne.

He is also said to own a £250,000 flat on Newcastle's Quayside along with a fleet of high-performance cars including a £50,000 BMW X5, a £60,000 Range Rover and a £30,000 BMW 3 series.

Disgruntled investors have seen Northern Rock's value slump to less than a tenth of its £5.3billion stock market peak a year ago before its shares were suspended.

They have threatened to sue the Government unless it pays fair compensation for their shares.