Murphy profits slide 40% to £34.7m

Murphy & Sons founder John Murphy was paid £4.9m while chairman the year before he died in May 2009.

The latest company accounts reveal John Murphy's pay rose five-fold from £850,000 in 2007.

Pre-tax profits fell 40% to £34.7m in the year to December 2008. Vice-chairman Caroline Murphy said: "The industry is entering challenging times and we have already seen tightening margins across a range of sectors."

Turnover slid from £475m to £445m taking margins down from 11% to 6.6% in 2008.