The new private owners of the vocational qualification body City & Guilds have more than tripled the pay of its top leadership while simultaneously implementing a major cost-cutting drive worth £22 million. This stark contrast has emerged amidst an ongoing scandal surrounding the sale of the business from its former charitable owner.
Soaring Pay Amidst Austerity Measures
Since the qualification awards business was sold by the UK charity City & Guilds London Institute (CGLI) to the international certification firm PeopleCert, the total remuneration for the top six executives has skyrocketed. The Guardian understands that their cumulative pay has risen by approximately 240% in the current financial year to about £6.2 million. This is a dramatic increase from the £1.8 million reported in the results to 31 August 2024.
This substantial increase is believed to include one-off bonuses exceeding £4 million shared among the six executives. These payments featured a £1.7 million award for Chief Executive Kirstie Donnelly and £1.2 million for Finance Director Abid Ismail. On top of these lump sums, there was also a cumulative rise of around 13% in salary and annual bonus scheme payments, now totalling over £2 million for the group.
Cost-Cutting and Job Relocation Strategy
The revelation of soaring executive pay comes directly after reports that City & Guilds, since its sale in October last year, has embarked on a stringent £22 million cost-reduction programme. A key part of this strategy involves shrinking its UK workforce by hundreds of roles.
A PeopleCert presentation, now removed from its website, outlined that £13 million of the savings would come from "personnel cost synergies". This would be achieved largely by not replacing many of the approximately 300 staff who leave the institute each year through natural churn. The document detailed a plan to relocate a third of these roles to Greece, where costs are up to 50% lower. Another third of vacancies were due to be left unfilled due to overlapping functions, with only the remainder being filled by UK hires.
Charity Sale Scandal and Ongoing Inquiries
The lucrative pay deals have intensified a scandal already surrounding the original sale. The transaction triggered a statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission, particularly after it was revealed that Donnelly and Ismail received million-pound bonuses connected to the privatisation.
Both executives have now been placed on leave as PeopleCert conducts an internal investigation into the circumstances of the acquisition. While CGLI trustees have stated they were not involved in post-deal remuneration talks and later voted not to pay sale-related bonuses, the Guardian understands that discussions about bonuses of up to four times salary were held among trustees in 2024, with a vote taking place in May 2025.
A PeopleCert spokesperson declined to comment on the sharp rise in executive pay, stating the business had no further comment at this stage. CGLI has said it is cooperating fully with the Charity Commission and is confident all trustee actions were proper, transparent, and in line with its charitable purpose.
The juxtaposition of multi-million pound executive pay awards and a sweeping cost-cutting programme that impacts hundreds of UK jobs continues to raise serious questions for the newly privatised company and its former charitable owner.
