CARL Michel, the chief executive of Cheshire camping to school trips business Holidaybreak, saw his salary and benefits package rise to £541,000 from £405,000 last year, the company's annual report reveals.

Mr Michel, who has driven the group's expansion, received a £190,000 performance-related bonus after Holidaybreak's headline profits rose 20.8 per cent to £40m in the year to September 30.

Revenues rose 17.5 per cent to £357.9m. In the year, Holidaybreak established its education division with a £100m swoop on PGL, the school trips organiser. It later paid £47m for another education-based business, Blackpool-based NST.

The report also reveals that non-executive chairman Bob Ayling, the former chief executive of British Airways, saw his pay rise to £75,000 from £63,000 the year before.

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