Bonanza for Whitbread's Shannon

BILL Shannon, the restaurant division chief who missed out on the top job at Whitbread, has walked away with a £750,000 pay-off.

The deal, worth twice Shannon's annual salary, was signed just before the leisure group become the latest company to cut the duration of directors' service contracts from two years to 12 months.

Shannon, 54, quit Whitbread after losing to hotels boss Alan Parker in the race to succeed David Thomas as chief executive.

A Whitbread lifer, Shannon saw his total pay almost double last year to £1.15m, including a £776,000 performance-related bonus. A £3.9m pension fund entitled him to an annual retirement income of £353,000.

Thomas, who like Shannon retires at this week's annual meeting, was paid £1.4m with a pension of £744,000.

Whitbread, which owns the Marriott hotel chain and David Lloyd fitness clubs, is bowing to shareholder pressure to reduce long service contracts that pay out regardless of performance.