Standard Life faces an embarrassing disruption to its first annual shareholder meeting as a public company today as a trade union moves to stage a “fat cat” protest over pension cuts and the insurer’s refusal to recognise its membership.

Amicus plans to parade a “very fat cat with a bowl of double cream” outside Standard Life’s meeting at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

Amicus, now part of Unite, the super-union, will be protesting against several controversial measures introduced by Standard Life since last year's demutualisation. These include shutting the final salary pension scheme and scrapping the creation of 1,000 jobs, while granting handsome payouts to its directors, including Sandy Crombie, the chief executive.

The demonstration marks the latest in a series of pushes by Amicus, which claims 1,000 members out of Standard Life’s 10,000-strong UK workforce, to try to gain recognition by the insurer.

David Fleming, national secretary of Unite, said: “Unite members are protesting because Standard Life is seemingly reluctant to enter into meaningful talks on pensions and union recognition.

“Standard Life was able to announce a 55 per cent increase in profits last year, thanks to the work of its staff. Many of its executives are receiving bumper pay packages, while ordinary staff are being forced to make sacrifices.”

Unions claim that since 2004 more than 80 per cent of staff, many of whom earn just over £12,000 a year, have agreed pay cuts to help to address short-falls in the company pension fund. Many have received below-inflation pay increases, they say, and Standard Life has resisted calls to hold talks.

Mr Crombie was paid £1.56 million, including an annual bonus of £693,000. Unions complain that he stands to receive 1.35 million free, performance-related shares, currently worth £4.75 million.

In March, the insurer reported a 55 per cent jump in annual operating profits to £614 million, including a 521 per cent increase in new business profits of £205 million.

Standard Life said: “The simple fact is that we had a pension scheme that was in significant deficit. Since 2004, Standard Life has been recruiting staff on the same future terms they are being asked to accept.

“You have to take this issue away from profits. Standard Life is now a shareholder-owned company. The simple fact is that the deficit has to be addressed.

“We have been in active and close contact with the staff association. It is difficult to see how the union could take this further.”

Today’s shareholder meeting caps an eventful year for Standard Life and marks the final appearance before investors of Sir Brian Stewart, the retiring chairman. Shares have stormed ahead more than 40 per cent since listing on the London Stock Exchange last June.

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