Deloitte has revealed that high-flying Chief Executives are thriving in the credit crunch even though the pace of pay rises in the boardrooms of Britain's top 350 companies has slowed in the economic downturn.

Directors of the UK’s largest companies enjoyed pay rises well above inflation with the average pay increase for bosses of the largest 350 companies on the FTSE share index standing at 6.2 percent.

However, this was down from seven percent the previous year.

The gap between the potential pay of the Chief Executive and the rest of the board is also increasing, according to the survey.