UK executive salaries, 2026
What each full-time C-suite seat pays in a UK company of twenty to two hundred people, as a base band with bonus and equity norms, next to the fractional day rate for the same seat. These are the figures this practice briefs against for first and second hires into each seat, not survey means across the whole market, and the London top end runs higher.
| Seat | Full-time base, midpoint | Fractional day rate | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Financial Officer | £140,000 | £800 to £1,500 | CFO salary by stage |
| Chief Marketing Officer | £130,000 | £700 to £1,300 | CMO salary by stage |
| Chief Technology Officer | £145,000 | £800 to £1,400 | CTO salary by stage |
| Chief Operating Officer | £130,000 | £700 to £1,300 | COO salary by stage |
| Sales Director or CRO | £120,000 | £700 to £1,300 | Fractional Sales Director cost |
| Head of Growth | £95,000 | £600 to £1,100 | Fractional Growth Lead cost |
| Chief Product Officer | £115,000 | £700 to £1,200 | Fractional Product Lead cost |
| Chief People Officer | £95,000 | £600 to £1,100 | Fractional People Lead cost |
| Chief Information Security Officer | £140,000 | £900 to £1,500 | Fractional CISO cost |
| Head of Data | £110,000 | £700 to £1,200 | Fractional Data Lead cost |
| General Counsel | £135,000 | £800 to £1,400 | Fractional General Counsel cost |
How to read the table
The midpoint is the full-time base the cost calculator assumes for each seat, so a comparison drawn here and a comparison drawn there are the same comparison. Employer National Insurance and the statutory pension add roughly fifteen per cent to the base, and a retained search adds a quarter to a third of first-year earnings in the year of hire. The fractional column is the published UK day-rate band from the day-rate table; two days a week for forty-six weeks is the usual way to turn it into a year.
The seats with a full page
- CFO salary in the UK, 2026: base band, bonus, equity by stage, what moves the number, and the fractional alternative.
- CTO salary in the UK, 2026: base band by stage, why equity is the largest of any seat, the architect or manager premium, and the fractional option.
- CMO salary in the UK, 2026: base, bonus, equity, how brand and growth leaders differ in pay, and the fractional alternative.
- COO salary in the UK, 2026: base, bonus, equity, why the seat's definition sets the number, and the fractional alternative.
When the full-time number is the wrong one to look at
If the honest requirement is two days a week of judgement rather than five days of a full-time officer, the salary table above is the wrong page and fractional against full-time cost is the right one. Many companies hire the seat full-time a stage too early; the usual sign is a job description that lists the function’s tasks rather than the leader’s decisions.
Hire full-time, or meet the fractional version first
Retained search runs a permanent appointment end to end, and the executive search pages set out how a search changes by seat and by buyer. The bench lists verified fractional executives with the day rate on the profile.