London-based CIOs are the best paid in the UK

London-based CIOs get better salaries and more benefits

A survey of permanent and contract-based salaries across the UK has illustrated the vast difference between IT wages in London and other parts of the country.

Online recruitment specialist The IT Job Board polled more than 6,000 IT professionals to create a salary benchmark across the 15 most popular IT job titles, from IT leaders, consultants and project managers through to entry level positions such as IT support and database administrators.

At the top-end of the spectrum, London-based chief information officers (CIOs) in a permanent job can be paid up to £170,000, according to the survey. But permanent rates for CIOs in Scotland reached just £52,000, with the lowest being £30,000 for an equivalent position in East Anglia.

Additional perks for 75 per cent of permanent IT leaders include bonus due to personal or company performance, followed by private medical insurance (61 per cent) and company pension scheme (56 per cent).

But contract rates for a CIO working in the capital are not as attractive, with average rates at £57 per hour, behind hourly salaries in the South East (£68), East Midlands (£67), West Midlands (£64) and North East (£61).

According to the survey, a quarter of contractors receive the additional benefits of working flexible hours, while only eight per cent receive bonuses.

Mid-range positions such as IT consultants can find better salaries in the East Midlands (£47,300), while average yearly pay reaches £46,200 in London. Average pay for consultancy work in Scotland is the lowest, at just over £30,000.

At the lower end of the scale, helpdesk workers have better salaries in the South West (average of £27,600), followed by London (£26,900) and the East Midlands (£26,250), with West Midlands workers getting an average of £20,300.

The full report is available here.