Pay rises for managers get bigger: Average increase of 3.5% shows upturn from 25-year low

MANAGEMENT salary increases are on the upturn again, according to figures published today.

P-E International's 1993 survey of UK salaries and benefits shows that average pay rises for UK managers are running at 3.5 per cent, up from the 25-year low of 3 per cent at the beginning of this year.

Senior managers in UK companies with annual turnovers of pounds 500m earn an average of pounds 53,000 while those in organisations with sales of pounds 50m receive pounds 34,000. Chief executives receive an average base salary of pounds 175,000 in companies with pounds 500m turnover and pounds 92,000 in companies a tenth of that size.

The rise in the level of increases, and the fact that the number of managers receiving no increase in the year to July has remained stable at one in 10, suggest that the level of increases has 'at least bottomed out', the report says.

However, at director level there was an increase in the number receiving no pay rise. In the year to July, 21 per cent of managing directors and 13 per cent of others saw no rise, compared with 14 per cent and 11 per cent in the previous year.

Confirming the varied picture, base salary increases in the non-durable goods manufacturing sector are above average, with managing directors receiving 6.8 per cent in the textiles and clothing businesses and 5 per cent in chemicals, food, drink and tobacco companies. Those in construction were below par.

Salaries in financial services have maintained their lead and are 27 per cent ahead of the all-sector average, while those in durable goods manufacturing and the public sector are respectively 7 per cent and 10 per cent behind.

London still heads the regional table, with a 9 per cent lead on the UK average. Salaries in the north of England trail by 5 per cent.

The survey, which claims to be the longest-established and most authoritative of its kind in the UK, also found that 45 per cent of all managers received bonuses, compared with last year's 37 per cent. Their mean value was 14 per cent of base salary, a small increase on last year's 12 per cent.

The marked increase in the number receiving bonuses is partly attributable to improved company results causing more bonus schemes to come into operation. But it also reflects a rise in the number of executives who could receive bonuses. In the year to July, 63 per cent of managers were eligible, compared with 55 per cent over the same period last year.

On the other hand, other benefits, such as company cars, pensions and medical insurance, are broadly the same as last year.

Simon McBride, a specialist in remuneration at P-E, said the upward pressure on salaries was likely to dominate if the recovery gathered momentum.