THE driving force behind regeneration company Renaissance Southend is earning £115,000 a year, the Echo can reveal.

Chief executive Mike Lambert is the only member of the company to earn more than £100,000 a year.

The figures come as Tory Southend MP James Duddridge steps up calls for the company to be disbanded, a move he believes will result in significant cost savings to the public purse.

With an annual budget of £900,000 provided by the Government and Southend Council, Renaissance Southend employs eight full-time staff at an office in Clifftown Road.

It was set up as a private company in 2005 by the Government and Southend Council to drive forward the regeneration of the town.

Bosses at the company have taken credit, alongside the council and other organisations, for improvements to Victoria Circus, Cuckoo Corner and Progress Road.

The company says it has also played a key role in the development of Prospects College, the City Beach scheme and Warrior Square improvements and the arrival of Essex University in the town.

Renaissance spokesman Colin Felton said Mr Lambert is good value for money considering the money the company has secured for the town.

Mr Felton said: “The pay is quite low for a chief executive.

“He hasn’t had a pay rise for two years.

“These are pretty small amounts.

“Chief executives of companies in the private sector are usually paid way in excess of £150,000.

“Considering the millions of pounds he’s secured for the town, I would say that represents good value for money.”

Mr Felton added most of the Renaissance Southend board are volunteers who give up their time for free.

Mr Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, said: “Mike is a capable individual, but I believe Renaissance Southend is the wrong organisation to be working on designs for the town’s future.

“This should be a role for the local council not a quango.

“Closing down Renaissance Southend would be a significant cost saving which is needed given the other calls on the public purse.”

In comparison to other public sector bosses, Dr Patrick Geoghegan, chief executive of mental health trust South Essex Partnership NHS Trust, earned £200,000 in 2008/09, while Dr Stephen Morgan, medical director for the trust which runs Basildon Hospital, had a salary of £205,000.

Basildon Council’s chief executive Bala Mahendran last year topped up his £151,929 basic annual salary with bonuses of £22,925. Prime Minister David Cameron earns £142,000.