C-Suite Salary Guide UK 2026

C-Suite Salary Guide UK

Executive compensation in the UK has shifted substantially over the past two years. A combination of persistent candidate scarcity at senior levels, the emergence of AI-focused leadership roles, and the continued divergence between FCA-regulated firm pay structures and the general market means that salary guides published before 2025 are increasingly unreliable as hiring or career planning tools.

This guide covers base salary, bonus structures and total compensation for the principal C-suite roles across UK businesses — from PE-backed and owner-managed firms through to listed companies and FCA-regulated financial services organisations. Every pay figure on this page is taken from a named public source that we have checked and linked: the Office for National Statistics’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) for the whole UK employee population, KPMG’s Guide to Directors’ Remuneration for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 executive directors, BDO’s AIM 100 report for AIM-quoted companies, and the High Pay Centre for total FTSE 100 CEO pay. Where no reliable public data exists for a role — the Chief AI Officer or the Chief Data Officer, for example — we explain what drives pay rather than quote an unsupported number. Many CEOs add a Chief of Staff recruitment hire to extend their capacity.

Every search is run by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate. Call 0203 834 9616 for a market salary discussion on any of the roles covered here.

C-Suite Salary by Role: UK Summary Table

The table below is the quickest way to compare C-suite pay across roles. The first figure column is the UK-wide median gross annual pay for full-time employees in the nearest ONS occupation code, which covers businesses of every size. The second column shows median basic salary for the equivalent executive director at listed companies, where pay is publicly disclosed. Each row links to our detailed guide for that role.

Sources: ONS ASHE Table 14 (2026 provisional, Table 14.7a, full-time annual gross pay, UK, SOC 2020); KPMG Guide to Directors’ Remuneration (February 2026, financial years ending up to 31 March 2025); BDO AIM 100 Directors’ Remuneration Report 2025 (2024 data; BDO’s “Other Execs” category includes COOs).

Where the Figures in This Guide Come From

C-suite pay is unusually hard to pin down because the people who hold these titles work in businesses of radically different size. A “CEO” can run a twenty-person owner-managed firm or a FTSE 100 multinational, and no single average tells you much about either. To give a fair picture we use four sources, each of which covers a different part of the market.

• ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). The official UK earnings survey, based on a sample of HMRC PAYE records. It covers employees at businesses of every size and sector, including the public and not-for-profit sectors, so it is the best guide to what a typical chief executive or finance director actually earns. It reports gross pay for employee jobs; it does not cover the self-employed, so interim and fractional executives working through their own companies are outside it. The 2026 figures are provisional and will be revised next year.
• KPMG Guide to Directors’ Remuneration. Analyses disclosed pay for executive directors of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies, broken down by role and market capitalisation, with bonus, LTIP and pension data.
• BDO AIM 100 Directors’ Remuneration Report. Covers the 100 largest AIM-quoted companies, a useful bridge between the FTSE 250 and private mid-market businesses.
• High Pay Centre. Tracks the total “single figure” of pay disclosed by FTSE 100 CEOs each year, including bonuses and vested long-term incentives.

Two cautions apply throughout. First, medians and means tell different stories at executive level: the ONS mean for chief executives (£174,391) is almost double the median (£95,516), because a small number of very highly paid individuals pull the average up. We quote medians unless stated otherwise. Second, ONS occupation codes do not map neatly onto C-suite titles. There is no separate code for a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Risk Officer or Chief AI Officer; these people are classified into broader director groups depending on how their role is described. Where we use the nearest code, we say so.

CEO Salary UK

The Chief Executive Officer remains the most variable C-suite compensation package in the market, driven by company size, sector, ownership structure and the specific commercial context of the appointment. The published data shows just how wide the spread is. According to the ONS ASHE 2026 provisional results, the median full-time gross annual pay for chief executives and senior officials (SOC 1111) is £95,516. A quarter earn less than £54,046 and a quarter earn more than £163,111, with the 80th percentile at £181,026. At the other end of the market, KPMG reports a median basic salary of £971,000 for FTSE 100 chief executives — roughly ten times the national median — before any bonus or share award. Direct comparisons between different-sized businesses are therefore rarely meaningful.

For the core market that Exec Capital serves — PE-backed businesses, owner-managed firms, FCA-regulated companies and listed businesses below FTSE 100 scale — CEO pay sits somewhere between those two reference points. The main factors that move a package up or down are the revenue and complexity of the business, whether the CEO is the first professional chief executive after a founder, the ownership model (PE-backed CEOs usually trade some cash for equity through a management incentive plan), and the stage of the business plan. A CEO hired to prepare a company for sale or flotation will normally command more than one hired to run a stable, mature business of the same size. If you are planning a hire, our CEO recruitment team can share current pay evidence for comparable businesses.

The ONS figure for chief executives is also one of the more volatile series in ASHE, because the sample is small (around 145,000 full-time jobs) and includes public-sector senior officials as well as company CEOs. The 2026 provisional median is 5.1% lower than the year before, while the mean rose 6.3% — a sign of movement at the top and bottom of the distribution rather than a fall in CEO pay generally. Use the ONS median as a floor reference for smaller businesses rather than a target for a growth company.

FCA-regulated firm CEOs (SMF1) typically command a premium over equivalent-complexity unregulated businesses, reflecting the personal regulatory accountability the designation carries, the Form A approval process and the ongoing supervisory relationship with the Financial Conduct Authority. The size of that premium depends on the firm’s permissions and its regulatory history; a CEO taking on a firm under heightened supervision or remediation can reasonably expect more than one joining a firm with a clean record. At larger regulated firms, variable pay is also shaped by the FCA and PRA remuneration codes, which were reformed in October 2025 (covered below).

Interim CEO appointments at UK businesses are priced on a day rate that reflects business complexity, urgency and the seniority of the individual. Fractional CEO arrangements — where the individual works one to three days per week — are increasingly common at smaller growth businesses and are usually priced as a monthly retainer for an agreed number of days. We explain how both are structured in the interim and fractional section below.

Average CEO Salary by Company Size in the UK

Company size is the single biggest driver of CEO pay, and the public data lets us trace it reasonably well for listed companies. Below the listed market the data thins out, so we describe the private-company tiers qualitatively rather than invent a number.

FTSE 100 and FTSE 250

KPMG’s February 2026 guide shows median FTSE 100 CEO basic salary of £971,000 and FTSE 250 of £648,000, with median salary increases of 3% in both indices in 2025. Salary tracks market capitalisation closely: within the FTSE 250, the median runs from £551,000 at companies below £1bn to £707,000 above £2bn. Across the whole FTSE 350 the median is £769,000. Base salary, however, is a minority of the package at this level — KPMG reports that for FTSE 100 chief executives the long-term incentive plan makes up 41% of median total earnings, bonus 34% and basic salary just 22%.

The High Pay Centre’s analysis of UK CEO pay in 2025/26 (July 2026) puts median FTSE 100 CEO total pay at £5.06 million, up 8.6% from £4.66 million the year before and the highest median on record. The High Pay Centre figure is higher than KPMG’s £4.33 million because it covers a later reporting year and uses the single-figure total, including any one-off payments where a CEO changed during the year.

AIM-quoted companies

For the AIM 100, BDO reports a median CEO salary of £366,000 and median total remuneration of £755,000, based on 2024 data. AIM companies are typically far smaller than FTSE 250 constituents, and their packages lean more heavily on share options than on the performance share plans common in the main market. Pay drops off quickly below the AIM 100, and many smaller AIM companies pay their CEOs at levels closer to private mid-market businesses.

PE-backed businesses

There is no reliable public dataset for CEO pay in private equity portfolio companies, because private companies do not disclose individual director pay in the same way listed companies do. What we can say from practice is that base salaries at PE-backed businesses are usually set with reference to comparably sized listed and private peers, while the real economic upside sits in the management equity — sweet equity or a management incentive plan that pays out on exit. A portfolio-company CEO may accept a base below what a listed company of similar size would pay in return for a meaningful equity stake. Our private equity executive search team works on portfolio-company appointments where this trade-off is central.

SMEs and owner-managed businesses

The ONS median of £95,516 for chief executives and senior officials is the best available guide to pay at the smaller end of the market, because ASHE includes the very large number of SMEs that never appear in listed-company surveys. In owner-managed businesses, a first external CEO appointment usually involves a negotiation between the founder’s expectations, the business’s cash position and what an experienced candidate can earn elsewhere. Growth shares, EMI options or a profit share are common ways to close the gap between what the business can afford in cash and what the candidate is worth.

CEO Salary in London vs the Rest of the UK

Location still makes a large difference to executive pay, even after the shift to hybrid working. ASHE Table 15 breaks pay down by the region where people work. For chief executives and senior officials, the London median is £135,068 — around 41% above the UK median of £95,516. For financial managers and directors the London premium is larger still: £121,504 against £80,000 nationally.

Source: ONS ASHE Table 15, 2026 provisional, Table 15.7a, median full-time gross annual pay by region of work. ONS flags most regional estimates for these occupations as less precise because of small samples; treat them as indicative.

London’s premium is partly a cost-of-living effect and partly a composition effect: the capital hosts a disproportionate share of head offices, financial services firms and listed companies, all of which pay more at the top. Outside London the picture is less tidy than a simple “regional discount”. The South East and North West sit well below London but above several other regions, and the West Midlands median for chief executives is lower than for finance directors — a reminder that regional samples are small and that a single large employer can move the figures. When we advise on a regional appointment we look at what comparable businesses in that location actually pay, and at whether the role can realistically attract candidates from London or other regions. Our London executive recruitment team covers searches where the capital’s pay levels set the market.

CFO Salary UK

Chief Financial Officer compensation has held up well through the general softening of the executive market in 2024–2025. Finance leadership scarcity — particularly at the level where a CFO combines technical financial expertise with board-level commercial credibility — continues to support strong pay for good candidates. ONS ASHE puts the 2026 provisional median for financial managers and directors at £80,000, up 4.5% on the year, with a mean of £138,044. The upper quartile starts at £133,539. The code is broad: it includes finance directors and CFOs but also senior finance managers, so the median understates pay for a genuine board-level CFO.

Listed-company data shows the top of the range. KPMG reports a median basic salary of £600,000 for FTSE 100 finance directors and £439,000 in the FTSE 250, with median total earnings of £2.14 million and £1.16 million respectively. FTSE 100 finance director salaries sit at a median of 64% of the chief executive’s salary, and FTSE 250 at 67%. In the AIM 100, BDO reports a median CFO salary of £263,000 and median total remuneration of £493,000.

In smaller businesses, the important distinction is between a CFO who is primarily a finance director with a senior title and a genuine CFO who is a board-level commercial partner to the CEO — the latter commands a material premium over the former regardless of business size. At PE-backed firms, CFOs normally participate in the management equity alongside the CEO, and the CFO’s track record of delivering an exit is one of the most valued items on a CV. Our CFO recruitment practice handles permanent, interim and fractional finance leadership searches.

At FCA-regulated firms, the CFO carries the SMF2 (Chief Finance) designation where the firm is in scope of the enhanced or core SMF regime for that function. The regulatory accountability — including personal responsibility for the firm’s financial resources and regulatory reporting — supports a premium over equivalent unregulated positions, and at larger firms brings the CFO within the remuneration code rules on deferral and malus.

Fractional and interim CFO appointments have grown substantially as a market segment. Fractional CFO engagements at growing businesses are usually priced as a monthly fee for an agreed number of days, and interim CFO appointments on a day rate that depends on business complexity, sector and the urgency of the vacancy.

COO Salary UK

Chief Operating Officer compensation is the most varied of the principal C-suite roles because the scope of the COO function varies more significantly across businesses than any other executive position. A COO who runs the entirety of the firm’s operational delivery — technology, supply chain, manufacturing, people, real estate — commands substantially different compensation from a COO who acts primarily as a coordination layer between the CEO and functional heads.

The ONS does not publish a separate code for COOs, so there is no clean national median. The best public reference points come from listed companies, where COOs who sit on the board are reported within the “other executive director” category. KPMG reports a median basic salary for other executive directors of £655,000 in the FTSE 100 and £385,000 in the FTSE 250. BDO reports £243,000 for “Other Execs” in the AIM 100, a category BDO says typically includes operational directors, functional directors and COOs. These categories mix several roles, so treat them as a guide to the pay of a board-level number two rather than a COO figure as such. Below listed scale, COO pay is usually set by reference to the CEO’s package and the scope of what the COO actually runs.

FCA-regulated firm COOs (SMF24, Chief Operations function) carry personal accountability for the firm’s internal operations and technology, including operational resilience. The FCA’s operational resilience rules (PS21/3) required in-scope firms to be able to remain within their impact tolerances for important business services by 31 March 2025, and that obligation now sits squarely with the SMF24 holder at many firms. The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which has applied to EU financial entities since 17 January 2025, does not apply directly to UK-only firms, but it does affect UK groups with EU-regulated subsidiaries. COO candidates who have delivered operational resilience programmes under either framework remain in demand.

Fractional COO engagements are particularly prevalent at PE-backed portfolio companies during periods of operational transformation, and interim COOs are used to stabilise operations during a turnaround or integration. Both are priced on a day-rate or retainer basis rather than a salary.

CTO Salary UK

Chief Technology Officer compensation has been supported by sustained candidate scarcity throughout 2025 and into 2026, particularly for CTOs who combine technical depth with the commercial and governance capability to operate effectively at board level. The AI transformation agenda has also introduced a new complexity to CTO searches — businesses want CTOs who can lead both the technical delivery of AI initiatives and the governance framework around AI risk, and the intersection of these capabilities is a limited candidate pool.

The nearest ONS code is information technology directors (SOC 1137), which covers CTOs, CIOs and IT directors. Its 2026 provisional median is £98,127, the highest of the director-level codes covered in this guide, with a mean of £116,759. In London the median is £121,997. The narrow gap between mean and median suggests technology director pay is less skewed by a small group of very high earners than CEO or CFO pay. Where a business is hiring a technology leader whose remit is infrastructure and service delivery rather than product, our IT director and CIO recruitment team handles the search.

At venture-backed technology businesses, equity is a significant component of total compensation and can represent multiples of cash pay over a successful exit, so the base salary alone is a poor guide to what a CTO will earn. At traditional businesses undergoing digital transformation (financial services, retail, logistics, healthcare), cash pay carries more weight, reflecting the difficulty of sourcing CTOs who can lead both the technical and the organisational sides of a transformation.

At FCA-regulated financial services firms, the CTO’s role in operational resilience — which increased significantly under the FCA’s PS21/3 operational resilience policy — supports a premium over equivalent unregulated technology businesses.

CMO Salary UK

Chief Marketing Officer compensation reflects the continued divergence between performance marketing-focused CMOs — where the role is primarily about digital acquisition and measurable commercial return — and brand and strategy-focused CMOs who operate as genuine board-level commercial partners. The former commands more modest compensation at most business sizes; the latter commands a premium that can rival other C-suite roles at businesses where brand equity is a material competitive differentiator.

ONS groups marketing, sales and advertising directors together (SOC 1132). The 2026 provisional median is £96,393 and the mean £125,571, with a London median of £113,915. Because the code includes sales directors as well as marketing leaders, it is a reasonable proxy for commercially focused C-suite roles generally. Bonus is usually a larger share of pay for these roles than for support functions, typically tied to revenue growth or marketing-attributed metrics.

The fractional CMO market has grown significantly — many smaller businesses have found that a part-time senior CMO produces better outcomes than a full-time middle-market hire, and the talent available at the fractional level has improved substantially as the model has matured. Fractional CMO arrangements are usually priced as a monthly retainer for a set number of days.

CRO Salary UK — Risk and Revenue

The CRO title covers two structurally different roles that are frequently conflated in salary surveys: the Chief Risk Officer (responsible for enterprise risk, financial risk and operational risk governance) and the Chief Revenue Officer (responsible for commercial revenue across sales, marketing and customer success). These roles attract different candidate pools, require different capabilities and command different compensation structures.

There is no ONS code for a Chief Risk Officer and listed companies rarely put the CRO on the board, so there is no reliable public median. Pay is driven by the type of firm: at FCA-regulated firms where the CRO holds the SMF4 designation, the personal regulatory accountability, the requirement for regulatory approval and the independence obligations that the designation carries all support a premium. At dual-regulated banks and insurers, the CRO’s accountability to the PRA adds a further governance layer, and pay is shaped by the PRA’s remuneration rules on deferral and risk adjustment. Our CRO recruitment team handles Chief Risk Officer searches at regulated and unregulated firms.

Chief Revenue Officers fall under the ONS marketing, sales and advertising directors code described above. At PE-backed businesses where the revenue CRO is accountable for the commercial growth story that underpins the investment thesis, equity participation can be the most significant element of total compensation over the hold period, and a high proportion of cash pay is usually variable and tied to revenue performance.

CHRO and Chief People Officer Salary UK

The Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief People Officer designations cover the same functional leadership role with different emphasis — CHRO suggesting a more operationally and process-focused appointment, CPO a more culture, engagement and people strategy-focused one. In practice the two titles have largely converged, and compensation structures are similar across both designations.

ONS reports a 2026 provisional median of £61,445 for human resource managers and directors (SOC 1136), up 6.4% on the year, with a London median of £72,776. This is the lowest median of the director-level codes covered here, partly because the code includes HR managers as well as board-level people leaders. A group CHRO at a large business with a global workforce sits far above this level; the scale and commercial complexity of the people function, rather than the title, drives the difference. At PE-backed platforms, people leaders increasingly join the management equity where the people strategy is tied to the value creation plan.

The CHRO/CPO role at FCA-regulated firms carries specific complexity around the Certification Regime, which currently requires firms to assess and certify the fitness and propriety of certified employees at least annually. This compliance dimension adds to the CHRO’s accountability and typically supports a modest premium over equivalent unregulated CHRO roles.

CDO and Chief Data Officer Salary UK

Chief Data Officer compensation is in a period of transition. Early CDO appointments at UK businesses were driven by data governance and regulatory compliance requirements — GDPR, financial data quality obligations — and attracted pay closer to senior technology or compliance roles than to the broader C-suite. The shift toward AI-driven data strategy has repositioned the CDO as a more commercially strategic function and is beginning to push pay upward.

ONS has no separate code for Chief Data Officers; depending on the remit they are classified with IT directors (SOC 1137, median £98,127) or other functional directors. At financial services firms and other data-intensive regulated businesses, CDO pay reflects regulatory data quality obligations — BCBS 239 at banks, data governance supporting the FCA’s Consumer Duty outcomes monitoring — that make the CDO’s role increasingly consequential for regulatory compliance as well as commercial performance.

The intersection of CDO and CAIO responsibilities is a growing feature of the UK market, with some businesses creating a combined data and AI leadership role rather than two separate appointments. That combined role typically commands more than either appointment individually, because the candidate pool that can credibly cover both is small.

Chief AI Officer Salary UK

The Chief AI Officer is the most recently established C-suite role in this guide and the one where pay is most in flux. There is no ONS occupation code for the role and too few CAIOs sit on listed-company boards for KPMG or BDO to report them, so any precise CAIO salary figure you see quoted should be treated with caution. What is clear from live searches is that the scarcity of candidates who combine genuine AI technical expertise with board-level commercial and governance capability has pushed CAIO pay to levels that regularly surprise businesses making their first AI leadership appointment.

At UK scale-ups and mid-market businesses making a first CAIO hire, packages are usually set by reference to the CTO, and strong candidates can command more where the CAIO is expected to lead AI product development as well as AI strategy. At larger enterprises and financial services firms, a meaningful variable element is normal, reflecting both the scarcity of the candidate pool and the commercial significance of the AI agenda. Our CAIO recruitment team can share current evidence from comparable searches.

The AI talent market in the UK is competing directly with US compensation structures, and the best CAIO candidates are aware of the global market for their skills. UK businesses that are not prepared to move quickly and offer competitive packages are losing candidates to US-headquartered competitors at a rate that has not previously been seen in executive search at this level.

CISO Salary UK

Chief Information Security Officer compensation has been driven upward by three converging forces: the increasing frequency and severity of cyber incidents at large UK organisations; the FCA’s operational resilience framework for regulated firms (and DORA for UK groups with EU-regulated entities); and the general scarcity of candidates who combine technical security expertise with board-level communication capability and the organisational credibility to drive security culture across complex businesses.

CISOs are classified by the ONS with IT directors (SOC 1137), so the £98,127 median and £121,997 London median are the nearest national reference points. In practice, CISO pay at regulated financial services firms sits above that level because of the regulatory complexity of the role, and group CISOs at the largest UK financial institutions are paid well above the national figures — a reflection of the scale and sophistication of the security function rather than the broader market.

Head of Compliance and MLRO Salary UK

Compliance leadership compensation at FCA-regulated firms covers a range from Head of Compliance (SMF16, Compliance Oversight) through to Chief Compliance Officer and MLRO (SMF17, Money Laundering Reporting). These roles carry personal regulatory accountability under SMCR and, particularly for SMF16 and SMF17 holders, a level of individual regulatory risk that is increasingly reflected in their pay expectations. Both functions remain subject to FCA pre-approval under SUP 10C; the FCA’s October 2026 proposals (CP26/37) to move some senior manager functions to a notification basis do not change that for SMF16 and SMF17.

There is no ONS code specific to compliance directors or MLROs, and listed-company surveys do not report them because they are rarely board directors. Pay depends on the firm’s size and permissions: smaller directly authorised firms, mid-size regulated firms and large dual-regulated groups with complex compliance environments (CASS, Consumer Duty implementation, cross-border business) sit at very different levels. The MLRO’s personal exposure in the event of failures in the firm’s anti-money laundering controls — which can extend to criminal liability for failing to report suspicions, not just regulatory sanction — is increasingly reflected in what candidates expect for carrying the designation.

For many smaller firms, the right answer is not a full-time hire at all. A fractional compliance officer holding SMF16, SMF17 or both on a part-time basis gives the firm an approved, experienced individual at a fraction of the cost of a permanent appointment. Fractional SMF16 and SMF17 roles are now among the most common senior hires we see at small brokers, IFAs and investment firms.

C-Suite Compensation and Package Structure: What Drives Pay Higher

The figures above show typical levels, but experienced search practitioners know that the most important factors in executive compensation are rarely captured by a salary median. Several variables consistently push individual packages higher.

Scarcity of the specific capability — a CAIO with a verifiable AI product track record, a CRO with dual-regulated bank ICAAP experience, a CFO who has led a PE-backed business through a successful exit — can command a clear premium over a standard appointment to the same role. The market median is the floor for a strong candidate, not the ceiling.

Speed of requirement — businesses that need an executive in post quickly are competing with businesses that can offer a full search process and a better package over a longer timeline. An urgent requirement usually costs more than the same role filled through a standard search process, whether through a higher salary, a notice-period buyout or both.

Retention risk — businesses replacing an executive who is a significant departure risk (a CFO who has had approaches from competitors, a CTO who built the product and could leave with significant institutional knowledge) are in a structurally weak negotiating position. Retention-driven packages routinely exceed the market level by material amounts.

PE and equity economics — at PE-backed businesses, the base salary is often less relevant than the equity participation structure. A MIP with meaningful equity upside at a well-structured PE-backed company can produce total returns over a hold period that dwarf what any realistic salary comparison would suggest.

Bonus, LTIP and Pension: How C-Suite Packages Are Built

At C-suite level, base salary is only the starting point. The total package normally has five components: base salary, benefits, pension (or cash in lieu), an annual bonus and a long-term incentive. The weighting between them depends on the ownership model.

Annual bonus

At listed companies, KPMG reports a median maximum bonus opportunity of 200% of salary for FTSE 100 chief executives and finance directors and 150% in the FTSE 250. Actual payouts in the latest year were a median of 149% of salary for FTSE 100 CEOs and 111% in the FTSE 250. The typical proportion of bonus deferred into shares across the FTSE 350 is 50%, most commonly for three years. Private companies rarely offer opportunities on this scale, and bonuses at PE-backed businesses are usually tied tightly to EBITDA and cash targets in the investment case.

Long-term incentives

Listed companies deliver long-term pay through performance share plans (PSPs) or restricted share plans (RSPs). KPMG reports median maximum PSP awards of 350% of salary for FTSE 100 CEOs and 200% in the FTSE 250, with median restricted share awards lower, at 150% and 100% of salary respectively. The UK Corporate Governance Code expects a total vesting and holding period of at least five years, and a three-year performance period plus a two-year holding period remains the most common structure. Our guide to LTIP structures at listed firms explains the mechanics. In private equity, the long-term incentive is the management equity — sweet equity or a MIP that pays out on exit — and in venture-backed businesses it is usually share options vesting over several years.

Pension

Investor pressure has pushed executive pension contributions down into line with the wider workforce. KPMG reports a median executive pension contribution (or cash in lieu) of 10% of salary in the FTSE 100 and 8% in the FTSE 250. Many senior executives are constrained by the annual allowance taper, so cash in lieu of pension is common in private businesses too.

Regulated firms: the remuneration codes

At banks, building societies and PRA-designated investment firms, variable pay for Material Risk Takers is governed by the FCA and PRA remuneration codes. The bonus cap was removed from 31 October 2023, and the regulators’ joint reforms in October 2025 (FCA PS25/15 and PRA PS21/25) cut the minimum deferral period to four years for relevant Material Risk Takers including senior managers, allowed deferred awards to vest gradually from grant, and removed the requirement for an equal split between cash and instruments. Other FCA-regulated firms apply their own remuneration code (for example, the MIFIDPRU code for investment firms). Any offer to a senior manager at a regulated firm should be checked against the applicable code before it is made.

Interim and Fractional C-Suite Day Rates: How They Are Structured

Interim and fractional executives are not employees in the usual sense, so they do not appear in ASHE, and there is no official public survey of executive day rates. Rather than quote unsupported numbers, this section explains how the two models are priced so you can compare quotes properly. Our interim executive recruitment and fractional C-suite teams can give current rates for a specific brief.

Interim executives

An interim CEO, CFO or COO works full-time (or close to it) for a fixed period, usually to cover a gap, lead a turnaround or deliver a specific project. Interims are normally paid a daily rate for days worked, invoiced through their own limited company or an umbrella company. The rate reflects four things: the seniority and track record of the individual, the complexity of the business, the urgency of the appointment and the expected length of the assignment. Short, urgent assignments in complex situations command the highest rates. Because the interim is not an employee, the business pays no employer pension contribution, holiday pay or bonus, and can end the engagement on short notice, which is why a day rate looks high when compared with a salary divided by working days.

Fractional executives

A fractional executive works part-time on an ongoing basis — often one or two days a week, or a set number of days a month. Pricing is usually a monthly retainer for an agreed time commitment, sometimes with a day rate for additional days. Fractional arrangements suit businesses that need senior judgement but not a full-time seat: a growth company that needs a CFO for investor reporting and fundraising, or a small regulated firm that needs an approved SMF16 or SMF17 holder.

Tax status and how quotes are presented

When comparing quotes, check whether a rate is quoted before or after VAT and any agency margin, and who is responsible for the IR35 status determination. Under the off-payroll working rules, medium and large clients must decide whether an engagement would be employment if the contractor were engaged directly, and an inside-IR35 determination changes the economics for both sides. A fractional executive who works for one client for several days a week over a long period is more likely to be inside IR35 than an interim on a defined project.

How to Use This Guide When Setting a Package

Published data is a starting point, not an answer. When we help a client set a package for a C-suite hire, we work through the following questions.

• Which comparison group is right? A £40m-revenue private business should not anchor on FTSE 250 data, and a PE-backed company preparing for exit should not anchor on the ONS national median. Pick the source that matches the business’s size and ownership.
• What is the true scope? Two roles with the same title can differ enormously. Write down what the person will own, how many people report to them and which decisions they will make before comparing pay.
• Where will the person work? The ONS regional data shows a large London premium. A hybrid role advertised nationally may still need London-level pay if the strongest candidates are in the capital.
• What will the candidate forfeit? Unvested shares, deferred bonus and notice periods often matter more than base salary in the final negotiation. Our guide to the buyout of deferred compensation covers how to handle this.
• Is a permanent hire the right model? For an urgent or part-time need, an interim or fractional appointment may give the business the capability it needs at lower overall cost.

Exec Capital provides executive search across permanent, interim and fractional C-suite roles, and current pay evidence for comparable appointments is part of every brief.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average CEO salary in the UK?

The ONS ASHE 2026 provisional results put the median full-time gross annual pay for chief executives and senior officials at £95,516, and the mean at £174,391. The mean is much higher because a small number of very highly paid CEOs pull it up. CEOs of listed companies earn far more: KPMG reports median basic salaries of £971,000 in the FTSE 100 and £648,000 in the FTSE 250.

How much do FTSE 100 CEOs earn in total?

The High Pay Centre reports median total pay of £5.06 million for FTSE 100 CEOs in 2025/26, including bonuses and vested long-term incentives. KPMG’s earlier data puts median total earnings at £4.33 million, of which basic salary makes up only about a fifth.

What is the average CEO salary in London?

ONS ASHE Table 15 puts the 2026 provisional median for chief executives and senior officials working in London at £135,068, against £95,516 for the UK as a whole. London also has the highest median for finance directors, at £121,504.

Are these salary ranges for London or the whole of the UK?

Unless stated otherwise, the ONS figures in this guide are UK-wide medians, and the listed-company figures from KPMG, BDO and the High Pay Centre are not split by region. The regional table above shows how much pay varies by place of work. Outside London, roles at businesses whose headquarters are genuinely remote from the capital are shaped by the local market and the specific talent pool available in that location.

How accurate are these figures compared to what the market is actually paying?

Each figure comes from a published source, linked on this page, so you can check the method. ASHE is the most reliable guide to typical pay across all businesses but uses broad occupation codes; the listed-company surveys are precise but cover only the largest companies. Neither covers private mid-market businesses in detail, which is where live search evidence matters most. For a market rate discussion on a specific role, call 0203 834 9616.

Should we anchor an offer at the bottom of the range for a strong candidate?

No — and it is one of the most common and costly mistakes in executive hiring. Strong candidates at C-suite level receive multiple approaches and are aware of their market value. An offer anchored at the bottom of the range signals either that the business does not fully recognise the candidate’s calibre or that it is not genuinely committed to the appointment. Both perceptions damage the probability of a successful offer outcome and frequently result in the strongest candidate withdrawing in favour of an alternative that opened with more conviction.

What is the right ratio of base salary to bonus for a C-suite appointment?

The appropriate base-to-bonus ratio varies by role and business type. At FCA-regulated firms, the remuneration code that applies to the firm constrains how variable pay can be structured for Material Risk Takers, and compliance must be confirmed before any offer is made. At PE-backed businesses, a higher proportion of total compensation through equity rather than base or bonus aligns executive incentives with the investment thesis. At listed businesses, the shareholder-approved remuneration policy sets the maximum bonus and LTIP levels; KPMG’s data shows a median maximum bonus of 200% of salary for FTSE 100 CEOs. Outside these contexts, private mid-market businesses typically weight packages more heavily towards base salary.

How does equity participation work in practice for C-suite hires?

Equity participation structures vary significantly by business type. At PE-backed businesses, Management Incentive Plans (MIPs) give C-suite executives an equity stake, sized by seniority and the size of the management pool, that produces a return at exit linked to the value the PE fund achieves. At scale-ups, share options are the most common mechanism, with vesting over several years and value tied to successive funding rounds or exit. At listed businesses, LTIP awards are typically linked to three-year performance conditions with a further holding period, and disclosed in the remuneration report.

How often should C-suite salaries be reviewed?

Annual salary reviews are standard practice for C-suite roles at most UK businesses, typically aligned with the financial year end or the anniversary of appointment. KPMG reports median salary increases of 3% for FTSE 350 chief executives and finance directors in 2025. The most important variable in a C-suite salary review is external market movement — if the market for a specific role has moved materially since the last review, the review should reflect it rather than apply a standard cost-of-living increase. Failing to keep pace with the market is one of the main drivers of unsolicited approaches to C-suite executives.

How much does an interim or fractional C-suite executive cost?

Interim executives charge a day rate for days worked; fractional executives usually charge a monthly retainer for an agreed number of days. There is no official public survey of executive day rates, and rates vary with seniority, sector, urgency and IR35 status, so ask for a quote against a specific brief and check whether it includes VAT and any agency margin.

Managing Director Salary UK

The Managing Director title in the UK sits in a unique position — sometimes equivalent to CEO (particularly at subsidiaries or operating companies where the MD is the most senior executive), sometimes a step below CEO at businesses with a separate group CEO above the MD of a division or operating entity. This structural variability makes MD pay comparisons more complex than for other C-suite roles.

ONS classifies managing directors with chief executives (SOC 1111), so the £95,516 national median applies to both. At businesses where the MD is the most senior executive, pay follows the CEO data outlined above. Divisional MDs within larger groups are usually paid below the group executive team, reflecting the narrower scope of the role, with bonus structures tied to divisional performance rather than group results. Private equity-backed businesses frequently use the MD title for the lead executive in portfolio companies, and in this context the equity participation through a MIP is often the most significant element of total compensation. Our MD recruitment team handles both group and divisional appointments.

Signing Bonuses and Non-Standard Compensation Elements

Signing bonuses have become more common at C-suite level as a mechanism for covering the value of unvested equity or deferred bonus that a candidate forfeits when leaving their current employer. At senior levels, forfeited compensation can be substantial — a CFO leaving a PE-backed business before their MIP vests, or a CTO with unvested equity from a Series C funding round, may be giving up a large amount of expected future value. Businesses that do not address this forfeiture in their offer structure are at a structural disadvantage when competing for candidates who are leaving significant unvested value behind.

Signing bonuses to cover forfeited compensation are typically structured with a clawback provision — if the executive leaves within twelve to twenty-four months of joining, they repay part or all of the signing bonus. This protects the business from paying a premium for an executive who does not stay long enough to deliver the expected value. At listed companies, buyout awards are normally made in shares on terms that mirror the forfeited awards, and are disclosed in the remuneration report.

Notice periods at C-suite level in the UK are typically three to six months, and this should be factored into any appointment timeline. Businesses that need an executive in post within eight weeks should not approach candidates who are subject to six-month garden leave provisions unless they are prepared to offer a buyout of the notice period — which is common at very senior levels where the speed of appointment has material commercial value. Where the gap cannot be bridged, an interim appointment covering the notice period is often the practical answer.