The departing chief executive of Halfords had his pay slashed in half after the company lost £30m in the year before he stepped down, it has been revealed.
Graham Stapleton tool home a pay packet of £650,440 for the firm’s latest financial year, down from the £1.2m he received for the prior 12 months.
The fall in his remuneration was as a result of no bonus or performance share plan payout was awarded for the year.
In April, Redditch-headquartered Halfords announced that Stapleton would step down as CEO after more than seven years and be succeeded by former Very Group boss, Henry Birch.
In June, Halfords revealed that it fallen to a pre-tax loss of £30m in the year to March 28, 2025, after having made a pre-tax profit of £38.8m in the prior 12 months.
However, over the same period, its revenue increased from £1.69bn to £1.71bn.
Alongside its annual results, Halfords announced in June that it is planning to close some of its garages as it struggles with increased labour costs introduced by last year’s Autumn Budget.
The company said the sites earmarked for disposal are not able to provide the “level of customer experience to which we aspire”.
The Autumn Budget, which included increases to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and the National Minimum Wage, added £33m to Halford’s costs.
Halfords’ rollercoaster share price
Writing in Halfords’ annual report, remuneration committee chair Jill Caseberry said: “Considering the context of wider business performance in the year, the executive directors and committee mutually agreed that no bonus should be paid.
“This considered factors including the overall shareholder experience and profit before tax performance.
“Although we were placed to make bonus payments to our autocentre and retail colleagues where applicable.
“Support centre colleagues received no bonus due to the profit before tax outcome being below the threshold for bonus payment.”
Halfords’ share price started 2025 at 131.6p and dropped to a low of 116.2p in April before surging to a high of 174.6p in June.
However, the company’s share price was slashed in the aftermath of its annual results being published with it falling to 143p.
Shares in Halfords are currently changing hands for around 150p.