[UK] FTSE chief execs earn national average annual salary by first week of January

CEOs of the UK's biggest companies will earn more by January 4 than the average worker is paid in an entire year, This is Money reports.

According to The Mail on Sunday’s ‘Fat Cat Files’, a typical chief executive at a FTSE 100 company now receives £4 million annually; more than 100 times a full-time UK employee's average salary of just under £35,000.

And some top bosses earn significantly more, creating substantially bigger pay gaps with workers. This is despite salaries rising at their fastest rate on record.

The news reportedly follows calls from business groups for executives to be paid at even higher rates for the UK to be a competitive global financial centre.

The calculations are based on the median pay figures for bosses and ordinary workers.

Albert Manifold - the chief executive of the construction group and Tarmac-owner CRH - numbered among the biggest FTSE earners in 2022. The company made headlines in 2023 by shifting its stock market listing from London to New York.

In 2022 Mr Manifold was paid £10.4 million - 259 times more than the average CRH worker - giving CRH the largest pay gulf of any blue-chip company.

However, with US-based executives earning far more than their British counterparts, there is potential for the gulf to widen further.

The FTSE company accounts analysis – which excluded three investment trusts where boardroom pay is much lower – reportedly echoes a recent report from the High Pay Centre think-tank.

It found that the pay gap between chief executives in the broader FTSE 350 index and workers widened to a multiple of 57, up from 56 times in the previous year.

In the first year of the pandemic, bosses surrendered rewards to show solidarity with workers, Luke Hildyard - director of the High Pay Centre - told This is Money. But, in the last two years pay gaps have returned to pre-Covid levels, he said. 

Companies listed in London with more than 250 staff are required to disclose the pay ratio between the CEO and employees.

The High Pay Centre found that retailers JD Sports, WH Smith and pub chain Mitchells & Butlers had the lowest-paid workers.

Julia Hoggett - head of the London Stock Exchange - has reportedly called for a 'constructive discussion' about pay amid fears that bosses could be tempted to ditch UK companies for the higher rewards of the US.

Source: This is Money

CEOs of the UK's biggest companies will earn more by January 4 than the average worker is paid in an entire year, This is Money reports.

According to The Mail on Sunday’s ‘Fat Cat Files’, a typical chief executive at a FTSE 100 company now receives £4 million annually; more than 100 times a full-time UK employee's average salary of just under £35,000.

And some top bosses earn significantly more, creating substantially bigger pay gaps with workers. This is despite salaries rising at their fastest rate on record.

The news reportedly follows calls from business groups for executives to be paid at even higher rates for the UK to be a competitive global financial centre.

The calculations are based on the median pay figures for bosses and ordinary workers.

Albert Manifold - the chief executive of the construction group and Tarmac-owner CRH - numbered among the biggest FTSE earners in 2022. The company made headlines in 2023 by shifting its stock market listing from London to New York.

In 2022 Mr Manifold was paid £10.4 million - 259 times more than the average CRH worker - giving CRH the largest pay gulf of any blue-chip company.

However, with US-based executives earning far more than their British counterparts, there is potential for the gulf to widen further.

The FTSE company accounts analysis – which excluded three investment trusts where boardroom pay is much lower – reportedly echoes a recent report from the High Pay Centre think-tank.

It found that the pay gap between chief executives in the broader FTSE 350 index and workers widened to a multiple of 57, up from 56 times in the previous year.

In the first year of the pandemic, bosses surrendered rewards to show solidarity with workers, Luke Hildyard - director of the High Pay Centre - told This is Money. But, in the last two years pay gaps have returned to pre-Covid levels, he said. 

Companies listed in London with more than 250 staff are required to disclose the pay ratio between the CEO and employees.

The High Pay Centre found that retailers JD Sports, WH Smith and pub chain Mitchells & Butlers had the lowest-paid workers.

Julia Hoggett - head of the London Stock Exchange - has reportedly called for a 'constructive discussion' about pay amid fears that bosses could be tempted to ditch UK companies for the higher rewards of the US.

Source: This is Money