it is the highest level in seven years, according to analysis by the high pay centre, which campaigns for more equal salaries in companies. it says the number of ftse 100 companies paying their bosses more than £10 million rose from four in 2022 to nine last year. the data comes as uk executives push for even higher pay to compete with international rivals, particularly in the us. luke hildyard is the director of the high pay centre. you point out that the pace of growth is down. is that something that pleases you?—

that pleases you? yes. well, it de-ends that pleases you? yes. well, it depends on _ that pleases you? yes. well, it depends on how _ that pleases you? yes. well, it depends on how you _ that pleases you? yes. well, it depends on how you measure i that pleases you? yes. well, it i depends on how you measure the that pleases you? yes. well, it - depends on how you measure the pace of growth because the median pay for a ftse 100 ceo of growth because the median pay for a ftse100 ceo has increased at a lower rate than inflation, lower than the pay of the wider workforce. the ceo is not paid 120 times the median full—time uk worker as opposed to 124 times last year. the average pay for a ftse100 ceo has jumped by almost half £1 million to almost 5 million. that symbolises the fact there has been a small number of generally larger companies that have made really large pay awards this year, and that has dragged the average for everybody. it hasn't been increases across the board. there has been this really vocal campaign for hire ceo pay. the last government was asked to look at the uk stock market. perhaps

unsurprisingly one of the recommendations from this group who wanted to research done is that ceo should be paid even more.- wanted to research done is that ceo should be paid even more. among your fiuures ou should be paid even more. among your figures you point _ should be paid even more. among your figures you point out _ should be paid even more. among your figures you point out the _ should be paid even more. among your figures you point out the median - should be paid even more. among your figures you point out the median pay i figures you point out the median pay is now 120 times that of the average worker within these companies. what kind of multiple to you at the high pay centre think is fair? if you accept the responsibility of being the boss should command a premium? that is a really good question. everybody should agree that we should not have total pay equality and the people that do more demanding jobs or you have to work longer hours take on more responsibility should be paid more. a good bit of context for this is to be in the top 1% of uk earners, turn

more than 99% of working people in britain, you need to earn about £50,000. these ceos gets millions of pounds. you can incentivise people to do well in thatjob with a materially affluent lifestyle with much lower packages than is currently the case. ten or 20 times is more appropriate than 100 times, but there are still lots of capable people out there who would be willing to take on a job for that amount. willing to take on a 'ob for that amount. ~ ., ., i. willing to take on a 'ob for that amount. ~ ., ., ,, _ willing to take on a 'ob for that amount. ~ ., ., ,, ., amount. what do you say to the argument _ amount. what do you say to the argument that's _ amount. what do you say to the argument that's in _ amount. what do you say to the argument that's in a _ amount. what do you say to the argument that's in a global - amount. what do you say to the argument that's in a global race| amount. what do you say to the i argument that's in a global race for talent, the uk is being outpaced by the united states. the boss of astrazeneca is paid something like £70 million. they want to pay him more because they are at risk of losing him or his successor to a us rival. , ., , ., ., ,

rival. there is a questionable relationship _ rival. there is a questionable relationship between - rival. there is a questionable relationship between ceo - rival. there is a questionable| relationship between ceo pay rival. there is a questionable - relationship between ceo pay and company performance. it doesn't necessarily follow that you pay to ceo more and you will get the better ceo more and you will get the better ceo and the company will do better. these are big organisations with lots of employees, operations all over the world. on the one hand that shows that you need somebody in the top job capable of leading them, but it also shows it is notjust all about the ceo. their success depends on the contribution of all employees and all employees need to be paid fairly. a there are lavishing all the money on the people at the top that means they find it harder to pay people throughout the organisation fairly. there is research that shows that very high pay gaps have an impact on employee morale, it demoralises them, makes them feel like they are just slaving away for the enrichment of a couple of people at the top and that

hinders their productivity. that is a good argument for equalising things a bit more.— a good argument for equalising things a bit more. thank you very much. hong kong's top court has ruled against former media tycoon jimmy lai and six other pro—democracy campaigners on their appeal against their conviction for taking part in an unauthorised assembly. the conviction involves a rally on 18th august, 2019, during the massive anti—government protests in hong kong. 0ur asia business reporter mariko 0i has more. it's fair to say that the verdict does not come as a surprise, but as you say, we were all there covering those protests and to think of how much the city has changed in such a short time, it is quite remarkable. so we're talking about 76—year—old former media tycoonjemmy lai, who was the founder of the pro—democracy newspaper apple daily, which of course has since been shut down, as well as six others who had been found guilty of organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly five years ago. mr lai was jailed for this

conviction, but he's also been serving a sentence for other charges and he has been held in solitary confinement for more than three years now. i still remember the shock wave is sent to the business community at the time when the authorities decided to go after mr lai and arrest him because he was a billionaire businessman, and until then, most of the arrests were among student protesters. their appeal centred on whether or not the conviction was proportionate to fundamental human rights protections, which was rejected by hong kong's top court. of course, a lot has changed in the last five years. china has imposed strict national security laws in 2020 following those protests hong kong also imposed its own national security law earlier this year. mr lai is now also facing a separate national security trial, as well. while hong kong does remain a vibrant financial hub, those protests and their arrests and also beijing's tightening grip on the city, all of those have

affected the sentiment among businesses, as well. now let's talk about potholes — a huge issue for drivers around the world. here in the uk the damage they cause to vehicles is the main concern for the majority of drivers. the condition and maintenance of roads was the top issue for almost six in ten people for the first time recorded in research by the rac, ahead of insurance costs and fuel prices. from northern scotland to salisbury... from lancashire to kent. pictures like these, filmed by bbc reporters around the country show the extent of britain's pothole problem. it may not come as a surprise, then, that when the rac asked motorists about their top concerns this year, the state of the roads surfaced as number one. 75% of drivers said that they think

their local roads have got worse in the last year. rural roads tend to be worse than urban roads. so this is the car? yes, this is my wife's car. and this is the wheel that struck the pothole, the tyre that was split in the incident, and then the alloy wheel was dented. and that's not something that could be driven on. no, unfortunately, after that, the car needed to be repaired and couldn't be driven. richard's wife was driving near cirencester in may last year when she hit that pothole. and then there's the pothole right there. 0ncoming land rover, and there's no option but to follow the line that she's following. to avoid the incident hitting his family in the wallet, richard claimed £189 for the damage from gloucestershire county council. they turned it down, richard persisted, and lawyers got involved. and it's been a very complicated and protracted process. but it was all resolved last week when they conceded that they should pay the claim.

that's more than a year later. well over a year, yeah. the council apologised for the distress caused, adding that it defends claims robustly and fairly to protect the public purse. a spokesperson said new information had led to the case being settled. different local authorities have their own claims processes — an insurance price comparison website told us many people end up paying for damage out of their own pocket because it's easier. what they should do is go to the council. councils are responsible for maintaining roads, therefore they're also responsible for paying out any claims for damage to your vehicle. you could also claim on your insurance, but be wary — that could mean that obviously you've got a claim on your policy and you see your insurance premiums go up for at least the next couple of years. the previous government promised to put £8.3 billion into repairing local roads in england over the coming decade. in a statement, the department for transport told us the new government was committed to tackling the poor state of the roads, and would support local authorities to fix up

to one million more potholes a year. but it didn't say how much it would spend. with the finances of local councils stretched, they argue long—term funding certainty is needed to help prevent potholes in the first place. katy austin, bbc news. in other news, one of the people who helps to make the bank of england's interest rate decisions has warned against being "seduced" by lower inflation. catherine mann was speaking to a financial times podcast and warned that underlying price pressures and wage demands in the uk economy remain strong. she's one of four policymakers who opposed the bank's decision this month to cut the uk interest rate from 5.25% to 5%. the latest uk inflation data will be published later this week and it's forecast they will show the rate rising after spending two months at its 2% target. a new report by the international labour organization suggests global youth

unemployment is at its lowest level for 15 years. however, according to the un agency's report, not all regions have recovered from the impact of covid—19. the ilo says that for young people in the arab states, east asia and south—east asia and in the pacific region youth unemployment rates were higher last year than in 2019. disney's deadpool and wolverine made box office history on sunday, becoming the second film this year to have grossed over a billion dollars, with the first being inside out 2. the massive success of both these films will be a boost for disney, which had a string of losses last year.

relative calm has been restored to markets this week after the big sell—off last week. this is the picture in europe. here in london, the ftse100 has recovered all of its losses. it is business today. i will be back with more later. join us them.

hello from the bbc sport centre. the 2024 olympic games officially came to end in paris last night, with a dazzling closing ceremony at the stade de france marking the end of a remarkable fortnight. actor tom cruise flew down from the roof to collect the olympic flag as part of the handover to los angeles, who host the games for a third time in 2028. earlier, gold medalists bryony page and alex yee led great britain and northern ireland into the stadium as flag

bearers at the ceremony. in a unique twist as the paris games drew to a close, the venice beach handover show featured rapper snoop dog, alongside other musical appearances from the red hot chili pepppers and billie eilish. the 2028 0lymics start on the 14th ofjuly with the opening ceremony at the los angeles coliseum and sofi stadium. taking a look at the olympic medal table, team gb finished seventh on 14 golds, their lowest position since athens 2004. while great britain matched total medals won from london 2012, the netherhands finished above team gb because they won one more gold medal. the usa beat china again by securing a top of the table finish, this time with 126 medals, 40 which were golds. both japan and australia enjoyed their most sucessful games to date while host nation france finished 5th on 16 golds. following the end of the closing ceremony, athletes have begun to leave the french capital,

with team gb boarding a train at gare du nord station.