A salary increase and £109,000 bonus led to City & Guilds Group chief executive Chris Jones earning more than £451,000 in 2016-17.
Despite a pay freeze for others on the group’s management board, figures from the charity’s annual report show that, in 2016-17, Mr Jones’ salary of £273,167 increased by 6.9 per cent on the previous year. He also received £69,152 in taxable benefits, including a £9,000 car allowance, cash in lieu of pension, private medical insurance and a health assessment. In addition, he received a cash bonus of £109,267.
The report also reveals that, in January 2017, Mr Jones’ salary increased to £280,000.
The City & Guilds Group - a registered charity - comprises vocational awarding body City & Guilds, as well as sister companies ILM, Kineo, the Oxford Group, Digitalme and Gen2.
In 2015-16, Mr Jones - who has been at the helm of the group since 2008 - received a long-term incentive plan payment worth £277,229, bringing his total pay package that year to £690,471.
‘Striking a balance’
Mr Jones’ pay far outstrips the highest-paid college principal in the same year, former North Hertfordshire College CEO Matt Hamnett, who received £294,000 in 2016-17.
The highest-paid academy boss is Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, who was paid at least £440,000 in 2016-17. According to Harris’ financial accounts, when employer pension and National Insurance contributions of at least £110,000 are included, his total package for the year stands at between £550,000 and £565,000.
In July, the government announced that schoolteachers would get a pay rise of between 1.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent this year, with the Department for Education funding a portion of that. But this increase is not being extended to college staff. University and College Union members at four colleges are set to strike following a ballot that closed last week.
When contacted by Tes, the City & Guilds Group declined to comment.
The group’s income was £142.6 million in 2016-17, up from £137.4 million in 2015-16. Of this, 72 per cent (£102,672,000) is classed as educational income in its financial statements.
However, in the annual report, Allan Johnston, chair of the City & Guilds Group remuneration committee, said it had to “strike a balance between the status of the institute as a charity and the reality that it is competing against purely commercial organisations, both in product markets and talent markets”.
Pay ‘well below’ comparable positions
Mr Johnston added: “The institute is not funded by charitable donations or grants, but must earn all its revenues in the marketplace. Consequently, the basic remuneration policy needs to achieve a sufficient level of competitiveness in the relevant executive talent markets to allow the recruitment and retention of the people needed to lead the organisation in a global market.”
Ahead of the publication of the annual report, the remuneration committee received external advice that the management board salaries were already in line with similar organisations and took the decision to hold salaries at the 2016 level. However, it states that an exception was made for the Mr Jones’ salary, whose pay was “well below those of comparable executive positions”.
Mr Johnston added: “With a concern for retaining the key services of Chris Jones, the committee decided to make an upward adjustment to his salary of just under 6.9 per cent.”
Mr Jones previously held roles at LexisNexis, Pearson and Reed Elsevier (now the RELX Group).
