Tesco chief Ken Murphy paid £4m as price of food soars

The Tesco boss received more than £4 million last year, even as shoppers faced skyrocketing food prices.

Ken Murphy took home £4.44 million, while his £1.37 million salary was supplemented by bonuses and other benefits.

While this was less than the £4.75 million he made last year, critics said it was ‘a bad look for the Tesco’ as many customers struggle with the rising cost of food. Inflation in the UK is just over 10 percent, but average food prices are nearly 20 percent higher than a year ago.

And Murphy’s salary is 200 times the average Tesco salary of around £20,000.

It is also clear that Murphy, who was born in Cork, is tax resident in Ireland and pays a lower rate there than in the UK.

Andrew Speke of the High Pay Center think tank said: ‘This is a bad sight for the Tesco boss given the current climate and high food prices.

“It should give priority to keeping food prices low and wages high for workers in the workplace.”

The payout follows a turbulent week for Tesco after chairman John Allan was forced to deny touching women’s buttocks on two separate occasions. He received £713,000, up from £695,000 the previous year.

There is widespread anger over so-called “supermarket loan sharking” accusing grocers of cashing in on rising prices. Tesco had a turnover of £57.7 billion last year, on which it made a profit of £2.6 billion.

MPs are investigating rising food prices and whether parts of the supply chain are ‘undeservedly’ benefiting from inflation in the food industry.