Debt beset Anglo-Dutch online directory group Scoot – by the skin of its teeth, one of the last great survivors of the dotcom era – has disclosed it spent over £1 million ($1.46m; €1.56m) on executive cleansing last year.

In June 2001, coincident with the announcement that the group was running out of cash, chief executive Robert Bonnier quit with £222,000 stuffed in his briefcase. He was accompanied by finance director Ronald Dorjee who bettered his boss by a factor of three, pocketing a cool £769,000 of shareholders’ money.

In terms of time served with the group, quondam chief operating officer Jon Molyneux enjoyed the greatest largesse: just five months into the job, he resigned with a payoff of £342,000.

The cash reserves of the near-moribund company, which has sought a buyer since last September, have dwindled to just £4.4m. The announcement accompanied the posting of its annual accounts to December 31, revealing a pre-tax loss of £180.3m – nearly three times the deficit of £67.2m recorded the previous year. Sales were £30.7m

Data sourced from: Financial Times; additional content by WARC staff