C&M's Wicks builds pay to £604,000

STEPHEN WICKS, a one-time electrician who left school at 15, has doubled his pay at Country & Metropolitan in a year in which the value of his stake in the property developer has increased by about 100%.

According to the latest accounts of the brownfield site developer, Wicks, 52, was paid a £258,000 bonus on top of his £273,000 basic salary which along with benefits took his pay for the year to £604,000, up from £315,000 in 2002.

A spokesman for the company said the bonus was a result of 'another phenomenal year' for the company in which pre-tax profits soared by more than 60% to £6.4m. A 20% rise in the annual dividend delivered Wicks a cheque for more than £80,000.

C&M, in which property magnate 'Black Jack' Dellal has a 9% stake, has been going since 1990 and is riding the boom in demand for low-cost, affordable starter homes.

The rise in its shares values Wicks' shareholding at £4.5m and he is sitting on share options which at current prices are worth £500,000. Finance director Nishith Malde's total pay jumped 75% to £352,000.