A Burton director has supported the decision that some of the biggest companies in the UK will be forced to reveal how much its chief executives earn compared to the average worker.

Business secretary Greg Clark introduced the new policy initiative under new corporate governance laws in a bid to increase boardroom transparency across companies in the UK.

This means that around 900 publicly listed companies will have to publish the pay ratio between bosses and workers once the law eventually comes into effect in June 2018.

There will also be new laws which will require all companies of a significant size to openly explain how its directors take employees' and shareholders' interests into account.

To better the lives of employees at the firm, there will be conditions for the listed companies to appoint non-executive directors to represent employees, create an employee advisory council or nominate a director from the workforce.

Joint research by the High Pay Centre and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development examined the top 100 UK businesses and discovered that the huge difference between top executives and average workers still exists.

According to the finds, an average Financial Times Stock Exchange company employee earns around £48,000 a year – compared to the UK full-time average of £28,000.

Therefore, for every £1 the average worker earns, their chief executive earns £129.

The High Pay Centre has said this has decreased since 2015, when the ratio came out as £148-£1, but is still high compared with the £45-£1 ratio 20 years ago.

Chris Plant, director of Burton Chamber of Commerce, thinks the move will be successful in increasing boardroom transparency.

He said: "Business generally is in favour of tackling boardroom excess and the government is right to be looking at reducing it.

"Most companies take a responsible attitude to their employees, their customers and society in general but the government's green paper on corporate governance does appear to contain a worthwhile package of reforms.

"There will be more transparency by next summer when listed companies will be required to publish annually the pay ratio between their chief executive and their average worker but there is no evidence that more disclosure reduces pay inflation.

"And, of course, the pay gap will vary enormously between types of companies, like banks compared to supermarkets. However, businesses must be allowed to pay the market price for the right personnel at all levels."