The new boss of Burberry has clocked up a £1.2million bonus for just nine months in the role and been given a golden handshake that could be worth three times that.

The fashion label paid Joshua Schulman £2.5million for the year to the end of March, including £846,000 in salary, and benefits such as a £380,000 relocation fee for moving from the US, where he ran handbag maker Michael Kors.

He was also promised a ‘recruitment award’ worth up to 300 per cent of his salary if the share price ‘more than doubles’ and returns it to the FTSE 100 within three years.

Even without that, he could net up to £5.7million this year if bonus targets are met. 

Burberry shares have rocketed 40 per cent over the past month alone. 

Meanwhile, Burberry shares are up 14 per cent since he replaced Jonathan Akeroyd as chief executive last July, but remained down 60 per cent on their April 2023 high.

Last month Burberry, whose summer campaign features model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and tennis ace Jack Draper, revealed a £3million annual loss as sales fell 17 per cent and set out 1,700 job losses.

The luxury brand plans to save an extra £60million through the redundancies, including at its London head office and Castleford factory in Yorkshire, where its trenchcoats are made.

Schulman said it had been hit by the UK’s punitive tourist tax and Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Changes under consultation include scrapping night shifts at Castleford and reducing the number of staff in shops. 

Burberry shares took a hammering after US President Trump announced tariffs and then staged a rebound as markets rallied on the pause, although they are still almost 20 per cent below their February level.