Wednesday newspaper round-up: CEO pay, rail fares, Intel, House of Fraser
Pay for chief executives at Britain’s biggest listed companies rose more than six times faster than wages in the wider workforce last year as the average boss’s pay packet hit £3.9m. Chief executive pay at businesses on the FTSE 100 index surged 11% on a median basis in 2017 while average worker earnings failed to keep pace with inflation, rising just 1.7%, according to the High Pay Centre’s annual review of top pay. – Guardian
The transport secretary has opened the way for smaller annual rail fare increases by suggesting they could be pegged to a lower measure of inflation – but only if unions accept the same measure for staff pay. Chris Grayling made the suggestion in a letter to unions and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), the industry body representing train operators and Network Rail. It came a day before the announcement of what was expected to be another round of high annual fare rises. – Guardian
Intel has revealed another potential security flaw in its products which could expose sensitive data, the third time it has had to disclose a vulnerability in its systems since the start of the year. Intel said the flaw in its SGX technology, nicknamed Foreshadow, had been discovered by separate groups of researchers, and could be exploited to access data from a chip's memory. – Telegraph
Employees at a key warehouse supplying products to House of Fraser stores and online shoppers have downed tools in a wrangle over delivery payment terms with Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct. The Times understands that workers at the chain’s distribution centre in Wellingborough have been told by XPO Logistics, which operates the site, to stop accepting goods and processing deliveries, leading to product shortages in some House of Fraser outlets. – The Times
Scores of landlords are deserting the buy-to-let market after tax changes and tougher borrowing conditions that are now “really starting to bite”, experts have warned. The number of buy-to-let mortgages completed in June dropped by just under a fifth compared with a year earlier according to UK Finance, a trade association. -The Times