Former Co-op boss was paid almost £2m before leaving after group’s difficult year

The former boss of the Co-op collected almost £2m before her sudden departure last month despite a difficult year when the retailer was pushed into the red by a damaging cyber hack.Shirine Khoury-Haq’s total annual pay package amounted to £1.9m in 2025, including a £165,000 “rewarding growth” bonus that was approved by the mutual’s board despite falling sales and the slide to an underlying loss of £125m.Khoury-Haq and other executives did not receive their regular annual bonus as the board said the company had not met an “affordability underpin” to make the payout. However, Khoury-Haq’s total pay did include a long-term performance bonus linked to earlier years.In the Co-op-group" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="65959" data-entity-type="organization">Co-op Group’s annual report, the remuneration committee said it had decided to pay out 10% of the three-year potential total for the new “rewarding growth” incentive plan, which goes to all staff.The report said: “The challenges of 2025 mean that on formulaic assessment, the targets to trigger payment under this scheme for the year were not met. However, the committee is keen to recognise the tremendous hard work and effort of all colleagues in an extremely challenging and difficult year.“The way our colleagues responded with resilience and professionalism to an unprecedented malicious cyber-attack was truly remarkable.”That meant full-time, frontline workers, such as shop floor staff, who were employed for all of 2025 received £100 each under the scheme.The report did not say if Khoury-Haq would receive any compensation for loss of office on her departure but did make clear she would not receive any more from the “rewarding growth” scheme.It said she was in line for a separate £682,000 performance bonus next May if conditions are met, and did not indicate if her departure would prevent payment. Overall, her pay package of £1.9m was down on £2.2m in 2024.Kate Allum, a board member and former boss of the dairy group First Milk, will step in as the interim chief executive while a permanent replacement is sought.Khoury-Haq’s departure after four years heading the company, and almost seven at the business, came a month after reports of concerns about the culture at the top of the group.Last week, Khoury-Haq denied that her resignation was linked to the allegations of a toxic culture. “My decision to leave was very much a personal decision,” she said. “The reason is I want to go and do something else.”In February the Co-op defended the behaviour of its bosses after reports said senior managers had complained of a toxic environment. The grocery and services chain said it did not believe the criticisms “represent the views of our broader leadership and colleagues”.The Co-op “lost trading momentum” while it focused on the recovery from the cyber-attack and also said it had been affected by a “contracting convenience market” as household budgets came under pressure.The group said it has faced “layered cost headwinds” of about £150m during the year from increases in employers’ national insurance, pay and packaging taxes.A spokesperson for the the Co-op said: “The rewarding growth incentive plan is a three-year all-colleague scheme, with 53,000 eligible colleagues across Co-op receiving a payout this year. The board exercised discretion to recognise the extraordinary effort of colleagues during a very challenging year, including their response to the cyber incident.“The 10% is the maximum outcome expected for this year and reflects both that contribution and our commitment to ensuring colleagues share in the recovery and future success of our Co-op.”