Key Facts
- Average CEO salary
- £73,178 per year
- CEO-to-employee pay ratio
- 2.2x average UK employee salary
- Highest-paid CEO
- Denise Coates, Bet365, at least £280m in 2025
- Gender pay gap among CEOs
- 10.6% in 2025
- FTSE 100 median CEO pay
- £4.4m (excluding pension) in 2025
- Startup CEO premium
- £21,000 a year more than employees
Background
The average gross pay for UK CEOs is £73,178 per year, which is 2.2 times the average UK employee salary, according to data from Payscale and Sage. This figure equates to roughly £27.50 per hour, assuming a standard 37.5-hour work week, and is about 195% higher than the National Living Wage of £12.71 per hour.
Regional disparities exist, with London CEOs earning a mean gross annual salary of £150,826, while CEOs in the South West, the lowest-paid area, earn £59,609 a year. The average gross salary for all UK employees in 2026 is £32,890, according to Sage.
Startup CEOs earn significantly more than their employees, with research by HSBC UK revealing that startup founders earn nearly 60% more than the average UK salary, which is £21,000 a year more than an employee. The average take-home salary for startup founders is £58,000, around 57% above the national wage.
Current Situation
Denise Coates, CEO of Bet365, is the highest-paid CEO in the UK, receiving a pay package of at least £280m in 2025, according to the High Pay Centre. While she is not an FTSE 100 CEO, she marks another year as one of the UK's highest-paid bosses.
Other top earners include Peter Dilnot and Simon Peckham, co-CEOs of Melrose Industries, who were paid £58.93m in 2024/25, 1,574 times the pay of the median full-time worker. Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, earned £17.7m in 2025, around 176 times the average AstraZeneca pay of approximately £40,072 per year.
Erik Engstrom, CEO of RELX, collected £13.64m in FY 2023-24; Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO of Rolls Royce, earned £13.61m in FY 2023-24; and Charles Woodburn, CEO of BAE Systems, collected £13.45m in FY 2023-24. Median pay for CEOs at the FTSE 100 was £4.4m (excluding pension) in 2025, according to High Pay Centre figures.
| CEO | Company | Pay Package |
|---|---|---|
| Denise Coates | Bet365 | £280m (2025) |
| Peter Dilnot & Simon Peckham | Melrose Industries | £58.93m (2024/25) |
| Pascal Soriot | AstraZeneca | £17.7m (2025) |
| Erik Engstrom | RELX | £13.64m (FY 2023-24) |
| Tufan Erginbilgic | Rolls Royce | £13.61m (FY 2023-24) |
| Charles Woodburn | BAE Systems | £13.45m (FY 2023-24) |
Impacts
The gender pay gap among CEOs was 10.6% in 2025, according to ACEVO. Male CEOs earned a median of £67,067, while female CEOs earned £57,250. This disparity is partly due to women being underrepresented amongst Chief Executives, with the number of female CEOs in the FTSE 100 falling to fewer than 10, according to research reported by The Guardian.
The motherhood penalty is a likely cause, as the average age of a FTSE 100 CEO is 55 years old, indicating the level of experience required. Working mothers are more likely to leave work or go part-time to care for children than fathers, making it harder for them to build a CV qualifying for a CEO role. Female founders also face a gender funding gap, raising on average 7.7x less in early-stage capital than their male counterparts.
High CEO-to-employee pay ratios can raise questions about fairness and employee morale. For example, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy received a £9.23m pay packet for the latest financial year, just months after the company announced cutting 400 jobs. Centrica owner Chris O'Shea faced a shareholder rebellion when his total pay packet increased to £4.3m last year, while energy bill payers struggled with record levels of debt.
Future Outlook
Scenario analysis: The possibilities below are not certain predictions.
There is currently no legal maximum pay ratio in the UK, but the High Pay Centre has long called for one to be introduced. In its report, the High Pay Centre stated, 'In the longer term, it is time to seriously consider the prospect of a maximum wage expressed legally binding maximum CEO to employee as a pay ratio.'
If a maximum ratio were introduced, it could potentially cap CEO pay relative to employee pay, but it remains unclear how such a policy would be implemented or enforced. The High Pay Centre suggests that a maximum ratio, achieved pre-taxation, may prove more appealing and politically durable than sole reliance on taxes and transfers.
As the gap between executive pay and average worker salaries continues to grow, public perception may sour if CEOs feast while employees struggle. Companies may need to balance reward with reputation, but whether this leads to significant changes in CEO compensation practices remains to be seen.
Source: startups.co.uk
