Close to a third of investors rejected WPP’s executive pay report at the company’s highly anticipated annual general meeting in London on Wednesday with the advertising giant facing difficult questions about its handling of the departure of Sir Martin Sorrell.

The FTSE 100 company defended its management of Sorrell’s abrupt exit with 27% of investors staging a pay revolt at the busy AGM, where more than twice the usual number of journalists were in attendance. Almost 30% abstained from the vote, representing a significant protest against the company's pay arrangements.