Founder Matthew Moulding set to cash in £830m after its £4.5bn listing on London Stock Exchange

One of the largest corporate payouts in UK history to an online retail entrepreneur has been criticised by campaigners against excessive pay.

Matthew Moulding is set to cash in £830m after success of his firm The Hut Group (THG) since its £4.5bn listing on the London Stock Exchange in September. Having hit valuation targets, Mr Moulding is entitled to the huge shares bonus, but campaign group the High Pay Centre claimed the reward “will strengthen the argument for more effective taxation of corporations and the super-rich”.

Luke Hildyard, the director of the group, said: “Payments worth hundreds of millions of pounds are far more than any individual needs or could possibly ever spend.”

He also criticised the company’s remuneration committee, adding: “As is often the case, THG’s remuneration committee is comprised of other serving executives who personally benefit from the prevailing culture of excessive top pay, and have no incentive to think critically about its costs and benefit to the business or society.”

Payday criticism

However, a statement from the company, which owns websites such as beauty retailer Lookfantastic, said the rewards policy for Mr Moulding and other leading investors was set out when the company floated at 500p a share. Just two months later the price has surged to almost 650p, triggering a series of payments as the group’s market value passed £6.25bn.

The huge pay packet dwarfs the £323m that Denise Coates, the owner of the Bet365 gambling website, was paid in 2018.

Share payouts

Mr Moulding will get even more if THG’s valuation reaches £7.25bn within three years. A spokesman for THG said: “We are delighted with the market reaction to our IPO and that all of our shareholders are benefiting. The equity scheme was put in place when THG was a private company, and we are delighted that over 200 THG staff have already shared in the scheme, worth around £200m today.”

In addition to the share payouts, Mr Moulding will receive a basic salary of £750,000 a year, up from the £318,000 he took in 2019. However, since the flotation, he has committed to donating salary payments to charity.

Hitting targets also means big paydays for other THG executives, including finance director John Gallemore and commercial director Steven Whitehead.

However, it has not been all plain sailing for THG, with some observers critcising the way it is run. Last month, some of the banks that collected £35m in fees for steering the group towards its stock market listing warned of its unconventional governance and the unpredictability of earnings in its technology business.

The 30 Second Briefing

Matthew Moulding has been rewarded with one of the largest corporate payouts in UK corporate history. Who is he?

The 48-year-old describes himself as a “typical working class” man from Burnley in Lancashire.

When did he launch The Hut Group?

He founded the Manchester-based business in 2004 selling CDs. It now sells a range of consumer goods, from cosmetics to protein supplements. Its online retailers include beauty websites such as Lookfantastic and Glossybox.

But surely the company can’t be valued at £6.3bn just because of a few beauty brands, can it?

Well, while the online stores have boomed during Covid-19 lockdowns, the company does have a few more strings to it bow. For a start it powers the websites of global brands such as Boots, Honda and Nestlé. It also owns the Eclectic Hotels group, which includes the King Street Townhouse Hotel and the Great John Street Hotel, both in Manchester.

How does Mr Moulding’s £830m shares deal compare to other big payouts?

Well, it dwarfs the £323m awarded to Denise Coates, the billionaire boss of gambling firm Bet365, in 2018. It also makes the 2018 bank-busting £75m handed to Jeff Fairburn, the then chief executive of housebuilder Persimmon, look paltry in comparison. However, away from the stock market few can get close to Lady Tina Green, the wife of Sir Philip Green. She collected a £1.2bn dividend from Top Shop group Arcadia in 2015, believed to be the biggest in British corporate history.