Bosses earn 60 times more than workers

THE head of some of Edinburgh’s largest firms are paid up to 60 times their typical employee’s wage, new figures have revealed.

Stephen Hester, the chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who replaced disgraced Fred Goodwin, topped the chart with that figure, earning £3.3 million in pay and bonuses last year.

Meanwhile David Nish, the Standard Life boss, earned just under £2 million that year, 35 times the average worker’s pay at the city-based insurer.

The average chief operating officer of Scotland’s 26 largest firms earned 23.4 times the salary of the average worker.

A spokesman for RBS emphasised that the bank is the largest company in Scotland and that Hester’s pay is in line with that on offer in other banks. Standard Life said that pay had to reflect the individual’s performance and value in the industry.