Exec pay vs average pay growth over 30 years.

The commission shows that the former chief executive of Barclays John Varley earned £4,365,636 last year – 169 times more than the average UK worker – an increase of a 4,899.4% since 1980, when the top pay in Barclays was just 13 times the average. The pay of the chief executive at now state-owned Lloyds Bank has increased by 3,141.6% to £2,572,000 over the same period – 75 times the average Lloyds employee. In 1980 it was just 13.6 times that of the average Lloyds worker.

Average wages in the UK today are £25,900 - up from £6,474 in 1980.

The report says: "Stratospheric increases in pay are damaging the economy – distorting markets, draining talent from key sectors and rewarding failure. There appears to be little truth in the myth that pay must escalate to halt a talent drain in executives."