Mr Gerry Robinson, chairman of Granada, is set to receive almost £10 million sterling (€15.86 million) from the media and hospitality group over the next three years, even though he will only be acting as a consultant to the company.

Mr Robinson is expected to pocket a windfall of about £6 million after tax as a result of cashing in his share options in Granada following its merger last month with Compass, the contract catering company.

Mr Robinson, who was born in Northern Ireland, is also chairman of the British Arts Council.

Although he will step down from the Granada board once the merger is complete, he plans to continue working as a consultant for the combined group, to be called Granada Compass, until he turns 55 in October 2003. During this time, he will continue to receive his current annual salary of £1.05 million.

News of the payments, disclosed in merger documents sent to Granada and Compass shareholders yesterday, follows strong criticism of the merger from investors, much of it directed at Mr Robinson and Mr Francis Mackay, his counterpart at Compass. Some shareholders are perturbed at the prospect of Compass taking on Granada's hotel chains, a move they believe will dilute growth and increase Compass' exposure to property prices.

Other Granada directors have also benefited. At yesterday's closing Granada share price of 612.5p, Mr Charles Allen, chief executive, will pocket almost £4 million after tax from his share options. The options of Compass directors remain outstanding.

However, Mr Allen, who is due to be chairman of Granada's media division when it is spun off next month, is expected to reinvest much of his shareholding in a new investment scheme designed to encourage executives to commit their own money to the business.

Granada Media is to introduce a commitment scheme which will allow senior executives to invest between one and three times their annual salary in shares. Depending on the performance of the shares, that investment will be matched with free shares and options.

Those shares will be paid out if total shareholder return on Granada Media shares is in the top 10 per cent of a basket of US and European media stocks.

It is understood that if Granada Media shares are among the best performers, participating executives will receive three times the amount they invested.