UK CEO pay hits record high

A think-tank report shows FTSE 100 chief executives earned record pay, underscoring a growing gulf with the average worker.

UK CEO pay hits record high as wage gap widens

The High Pay Centre report shows median pay for FTSE 100 chief executives was 4.58 million pounds in the year to March 31, up from 4.29 million the previous year and the highest figure since disclosures began in 2013. Mean bonuses rose to 1.61 million pounds. The figures come from single-figure disclosures by listed companies and exclude private firms, a limitation CNBC notes in the report.

The average UK full-time worker earned 37,430 pounds last year, meaning the typical FTSE 100 chief earned 122 times more. The comparison to the United States is starker still, with the same ratio around 290 times in 2023. Nine women served as CEOs across the year, with a median pay of 3.27 million pounds; none were in the top 10 earners. Denise Coates, head of Bet365, is noted as the highest-paid female executive at 94.66 million pounds. Since 2019, firms with more than 250 employees must disclose the ratio between CEO pay and the average worker and justify top-earner salaries.

The rise in pay sits at the intersection of talent markets and governance. When top rewards climb while normal workers struggle, trust in boards can erode unless pay is clearly tied to sustained value creation. Boards face pressure to show a direct link between compensation and performance, not just market benchmarks. The gender dimension compounds the issue; nine female CEOs worked through the year, yet none appeared among the top 10 earners, highlighting slow progress on parity in Britain’s boardrooms.

This data invites policymakers and investors to reassess incentives. Greater transparency helps, but it must be paired with accountability, performance metrics, and a governance culture that aligns pay with long-term outcomes. The question for the next phase is whether disclosure alone will drive reform or if more targeted guidance and constraints are needed to narrow the gap while sustaining executive recruitment and motivation.

Highlights

The debate over value, fairness and governance will persist as numbers rise.