Fewer than 10 per cent of Britain's smallest public companies reward their top executives with significant performance-related pay, often the single largest part of total remuneration for executives at the UK's biggest companies, according to a new survey.

The findings are contained in a survey to be released by MM&K, an independent remuneration consultancy, and Manifest, the proxy voting agency, which reviewed the pay packages of chief executives of 430 small-cap and Aim-listed companies.