September 2022 CEO Salary Review

Since our last CEO Salary Review back in August, a lot of things have happened. From a number of CEO departures in the FTSE 100, a global cost of living and energy crisis as well as talks of a recession in the latter part of this year.

Whilst it’s no secret that living costs are increasing for company employees, interest rates and production costs have soared too. This ultimately impacts the cost of running a business. And so with that, we thought it was time to review the CEO salary position again in the UK. In this post we’ve updated the low, median and high CEO salary bands by top UK location. Figures shown here will not include any perks, equity, travel allowances or performance-related bonuses.

It should also be noted, that CEO pay is dependent on experience, sector and location. Whilst one sector might pay at the top end of the spectrum, there are a number of companies that simply do not have the means to match these salaries, often in this case, CEO’s are attracted to the role because of professional and personal reasons.

Take the Charity sector for example, CEO’s are willing to accept a lower remuneration for the greater good of what they represent and who they are driving success for.

OK, let’s take a look at the latest CEO Salaries by top UK location for September 2022. The figures shown in this post are based on 1,678 salary profiles, as of Aug 29 2022.

Average UK CEO Salary Range

– Low –

£36,000

– Median –

£76,000

– High –

£159,000

Recent CEO Jobs in the UK

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Average London CEO Salary Range

– Low –

£46,000

– Median –

£101,000

– High –

£205,000

Recent CEO Jobs in London

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Average Manchester CEO Salary Range

– Low –

£40,000

– Median –

£83,000

– High –

£173,000

Recent CEO Jobs in Manchester

Average Edinburgh CEO Salary Range

– Low –

£35,000

– Median –

£85,000

– High –

£174,000

Recent CEO Jobs in Scotland

Average Bristol CEO Salary Range

– Low –

£51,000

– Median –

£75,000

– High –

£158,000

Recent CEO Jobs in the Southwest

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Average Belfast CEO Salary Range

– Low –

£35,000

– Median –

£53,000

– High –

£92,000

Recent CEO Jobs in Northern Ireland

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And so taking a look at the September 2022 figures, whilst the UK offers a generous average top-end salary of £159,000, London (unsurprisingly), trumps the rest of locations with an average high of £205,000. Being the financial capital of Europe, it’s understandable that the capital of the UK can remunerate on such a level. CEO’s across other locations mix up the work-life balance to benefit from a salary in proportion to their local cost of living. But in the current climate, we know that’s never been more of a challenge.

But what do the highest performing companies pay their CEO’s?

Well, that is a whole other story, when it comes to the FTSE 100.

Despite the challenges brought about by COVID, the median FTSE 100 CEO was paid £2.69 million in 2020, 86 times the median full-time worker in the UK. The figure represents a 17% fall from median CEO pay of £3.25 million recorded in 2019.

Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca was the highest earning CEO, making £15.45 million, ahead of Brian Cassin of Experian who made £10.3 million.

The 10 highest paid FTSE 100 CEOs in FYE 2020

Chief executive (2020)Company2020 pay (£m)
Pascal SoriotAstraZeneca15.45
Brian CassinExperian10.30
Albert ManifoldCRH9.92
Laxman NarasimhanReckitt Benckiser9.24
Rob PerrinsBerkeley8.03
Mark CutifaniAnglo American7.82
Peter JacksonFlutter7.52
Jean-Sébastien JacquesRio Tinto7.22
Emma WalmsleyGlaxoSmithKline7.03
Tim SteinerOcado6.97