Britain’s best-paid bosses will make more by midday Wednesday than workers will all year

The UK’s top bosses will have made more money by lunchtime on Wednesday than the typical UK worker will earn all year, according to an analysis that exposes the gulf between executives and the rest of the workforce.

On “Fat Cat Wednesday” campaigners say that public anger with elites will intensify unless action is taken to tackle excess among executives at a time when pressures on household budgets are rising .

The High Pay Centre calculated that the average FTSE 100 boss now earns more than £1,000 (US$1,225) an hour, meaning they will pass the UK average salary of £28,200 by around midday on Wednesday. The thinktank said that after enjoying rapid earnings growth in recent years, leading bosses now typically earn 129 times more than their employees.

It hopes its stark findings will act as a spur to the prime minister, Theresa May, to act on her promises to create an economy that works for everyone. In the political fallout from last year’s Brexit vote that catapulted her to power, May tapped into voters’ frustrations over inequality and since being made prime minister she has vowed to reform capitalism.

Stefan Stern, the head of the High Pay Centre, said forcing companies to publish pay ratios would be a good start.

“Our new year calculation is not designed to make the return to work harder than it already is. But ‘Fat Cat Wednesday’ is an important reminder of the continuing problem of the unfair pay gap in the UK,” he said.

“We hope the government will recognise that further reform to pay practices are needed if this gap is to be closed.”