Chief executives of FTSE 100 companies have seen their salaries increase by 7.4% in the last 12 months.

According to a research by Income Data Services, this is more than double the rise (3.4%) enjoyed by their staff.

The survey shows that bonuses for FTSE 100 chief executives fell by 29%. However, this still leaves the average bonus paid as £502,000.

Taken the two aspects of remuneration together, median total compensation paid to FTSE 100 chief executives last year fell by 1.5%.

Steve Tatton, editor of the pay report, says: “Shareholder scrutiny is undoubtedly increasing. They [the companies] have a difficult communication challenge on their hands. They do not want to be accused of increasing salaries to make up for missed bonus targets.”