Non-executive director day rate
A non-executive director in the UK is not paid by the day; the fee is fixed and annual, so no survey publishes a NED day rate. Dividing the published fees by the 25 to 35 days a listed board asks for gives a working figure: the Spencer Stuart UK Board Index 2023 average of £76,868 comes to £2,196 to £3,075 a day, against £600 to £1,500 a day for a fractional executive.
Published fees divided by the days asked for
Each row takes a published annual fee and divides it by the commitment listed boards commonly state, 25 to 35 days a year. The result is arithmetic on somebody else's survey, labelled as such, not a rate anybody published. Smaller quoted boards often ask for fewer days than the largest companies, which would push their per-day figure up rather than down.
| Published annual fee | Days a year | Per day | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| £76,868 average base fee, the 150 largest companies with a premium London listing | 25 to 35 | £2,196 to £3,075 | Derived from Spencer Stuart UK Board Index 2023, not a survey figure |
| £58,000 median base fee, the 100 largest companies on AIM | 25 to 35 | £1,657 to £2,320 | Derived from BDO AIM 100 remuneration report 2025, not a survey figure |
| £40,500 average fee, small and mid-sized quoted companies | 25 to 35 | £1,157 to £1,620 | Derived from QCA non-executive director survey 2022, not a survey figure |
| Private companies: no published fee | 12 to 24 | Nothing to divide | No survey covers private company NED fees |
Fractional executive day rates, by seat
A fractional executive is priced by the day because the day is what they sell: one to three of them a week, running a function. The bands below are the ones the day-rates page publishes for each seat in the UK, and they change here when they change there.
| Seat | UK day rate | Where the higher end applies |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional CFO | £800 to £1,500 | Higher end for fundraise or exit work, and for regulated sectors. |
| Fractional CMO | £700 to £1,300 | Higher end for category creation, rebrands and full funnel rebuilds. |
| Fractional CTO | £800 to £1,400 | Higher end for regulated sectors, AI systems and technical due diligence. |
| Fractional COO | £700 to £1,300 | Higher end for turnarounds, scale-ups past 50 people and multi-site operations. |
| Fractional Sales Director | £700 to £1,300 | Often part fixed fee, part performance-linked. Agree the structure in writing before starting. |
| Fractional Growth Lead | £600 to £1,100 | Higher end for marketplaces, subscription products and anything with a complex funnel. |
| Fractional Product Lead | £700 to £1,200 | Higher end for complex B2B products and platform or API work. |
| Fractional People Lead | £600 to £1,100 | Higher end for scale-ups hiring at pace and for TUPE, restructures or redundancy work. |
| Fractional CISO | £900 to £1,500 | Among the highest fractional rates, driven by certification work and regulated sectors. |
| Fractional Data Lead | £700 to £1,200 | Higher end for machine learning and AI strategy work as well as pipeline building. |
| Fractional General Counsel | £800 to £1,400 | Still materially below partner-level law firm rates for equivalent seniority. |
Why the per-day figures differ
A NED's fee divided by the stated days usually comes out above a fractional executive's day rate, sometimes well above. That is not because a board day is worth more than an operating day. The fee pays for things the day count leaves out.
- Liability. A NED carries the full duties of a director under the Companies Act 2006 and can be sued or disqualified over decisions taken in a meeting they attended. A fractional executive who is not on the board carries a contract, not a directorship.
- D&O exposure. Directors' and officers' insurance covers much of that risk, not all of it, and the fee is partly the price of a person willing to carry what is left.
- Unpaid crisis time. The stated days are the quiet-year figure. A transaction, a profit warning or a chief executive leaving can double them, and the fee rarely moves. A fractional executive bills the extra days.
- Reading that is not in the count. Board packs, committee papers and calls between meetings are usually inside the fee and outside the days anybody writes down.
- Exclusivity of judgement. A NED's value is independence, so they should not take on executive work for the same company; a fractional executive's value is the work.
When a NED is paid by the day
Some letters of appointment set an additional daily fee for work beyond the stated commitment, such as a fundraise, a sale process or an investigation, so that the annual fee stays tied to ordinary governance. Where that exists, it is the closest thing to a real NED day rate, and it is agreed company by company rather than published. A board that asks a NED for days on end of operating help has stopped buying governance and started buying an executive, and is usually better served by hiring one part time.
Common questions
Do NEDs charge a day rate?
Rarely. A NED is paid a fixed annual fee set in a letter of appointment, normally through payroll. Some letters add a daily fee for work well beyond the stated days, a transaction for instance, but the core role is priced by the year. Somebody quoting a day rate for ongoing board work is usually offering advisory or fractional work instead.
Is a NED day rate the same as a fractional day rate?
No. A NED figure per day is a published annual fee divided by an assumed number of days, and it pays for governance, liability and unpaid crisis time. A fractional day rate is a price for a day of running a function, £600 to £1,500 across the UK seats, billed for the days actually worked. The two answer different questions and should not be compared as if they bought the same thing.
What does a NED earn per day at a FTSE company?
Worked out from the Spencer Stuart UK Board Index 2023 average base fee of £76,868 over 25 to 35 days, about £2,196 to £3,075 a day. That is arithmetic on a published average, not a survey of day rates, and committee chairs earn more for more days.
What does a NED earn per day at an AIM company?
The BDO AIM 100 remuneration report 2025 put the AIM 100 median base fee at £58,000. Over 25 to 35 days that is about £1,657 to £2,320 a day. Smaller AIM companies pay less and often ask for fewer days.
How many days a year does a NED work?
Listed boards commonly state 25 to 35 days a year for an ordinary NED, more for a committee chair. In a private company one to two days a month, 12 to 24 days a year, is typical. Both stretch in a crisis.
Read next
- The published NED fees, by tier
- Fractional executive day rates, with the method
- Board advisor, NED or fractional executive
More on non-executive directors
A board needs governing. A function needs running.
A non-executive director does the first. For the second, the bench lists verified fractional executives with the day rate on the profile, and retained search runs board and full-time appointments for the companies it works with.