Business

Fever-Tree boss in high spirits amid £4m payday

Fever-Tree posted revenue growth of 40 per cent to £237.4m.
Fever-Tree posted revenue growth of 40 per cent to £237.4m. Fever-Tree posted revenue growth of 40 per cent to £237.4m.

THE founder of Fever-Tree will take home a bumper pay packet after the posh mixer maker posted another record year.

Chief executive Tim Warrillow will receive £3.98 million for 2018, up from £844,000 the previous year.

The increase is down to the introduction of a Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP), which was first approved in 2016.

The award is based 75 per cent on turnover and 25 per cent on underlying earnings.

In the period since it was granted, turnover growth was 301 per cent and earnings growth was 332 per cent, exceeding the maximum target.

Due to the rapid rise in Fever-Tree's share price, Mr Warrillow will therefore receive more than £3m under the scheme in addition to his basic salary and bonus.

Chief financial officer Andrew Branchflower, meanwhile, will take home £1.92m following the vesting of the awards at the end of May.

It follows a year in which Fever-Tree posted a pre-tax profit rise of 34 per cent to £75.6m in 2018, while revenue jumped 40 per cent to £237.4m.

The company said it was boosted by last summer's heatwave, as well as the World Cup and the marriage of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle.

More gin was sold during the three months of the summer in 2018 than the summers of 2014 and 2015 combined, the firm added, with the category now worth £1.9 billion in the UK.

Mr Warrillow founded Fever-Tree in 2003 with Charles Rolls. Last year the two founders sold a combined three million shares, raising a total of £103.5 million.