The chairman of Ocado has insisted that plans to pay its founder Tim Steiner a bonus worth up to £14.8m are fair, despite a shareholder backlash against the proposals. More than 19pc of votes at Monday’s annual shareholder meeting went against the pay scheme, which allows Mr Steiner to receive a bonus worth up to 1,800pc of his base salary if certain targets are met. His base salary stands at £824,570. Ocado has said the bonus scheme was important to reinforce Mr Steiner’s “longer-term focus and strategic vision”. Rick Haythornthwaite, Ocado’s chairman, launched a defence of Mr Steiner’s pay package at the investor meeting, following weeks of criticism by influential shareholder advisers Glass Lewis and campaign group ShareAction. Glass Lewis had questioned whether there was a need for an “enhanced incentivisation tool” at Ocado, while ShareAction criticised the gulf between Mr Steiner’s pay and what frontline staff received. Mr Haythornthwaite argued that Ocado’s staff owed their jobs to Mr Steiner, who co-founded the business in 2000. He was therefore “somewhat different” when it came to chief executive pay, as none of the people employed by Ocado “would have a job without the performance of this individual”. Ocado, which is worth...