There is a Watford gap in Britain’s boardrooms, according to research carried out by Buck Consultants on behalf of Leeds-based stockbrokers BWD Rensburg. The survey discovered that the median salary of a chief executive at companies outside the M25 and turning over #50m-300m, is around #140,000, or 15% less than the national average. CEOs’ salaries were only found to match national pay scales when company turnover exceeds #300m.
The research also revealed that a third of companies in the u20m-120m turnover bracket paid no executive bonuses.
A separate survey by BWD reported that, of 143 quoted Yorkshire-based companies analysed in 1986, only 70 remain independent and listed on the stock market. Most of the others have been taken over, though some were merged with other Yorkshire groups. Seven have left the county, 11 have gone private and nine have failed. But another 70 companies in the region have joined the stock market over the last decade.
A shortage of qualified accountancy candidates, coupled with higher demand in industry, commerce and banking, has pushed up base salaries, making the job market more buoyant than it has been for eight years, according to research by recruitment consultants, Robert Walters Associates. The research indicated that newly qualified accountants in internal audit or financial control can command base salaries of as much as u32,000, while those in corporate finance can attract pay of #35,000.
The survey also found that a rise in project-based work in the telecommunications, media and leisure sectors has increased demand for temporary and contract staff accountants.