Our latest remuneration data shows some of the strongest salary growth immediately below the CFO, raising an important question about the vacancies and capability gaps one senior move can create.
Our latest remuneration data shows some of the strongest salary growth immediately below the CFO, raising an important question about the vacancies and capability gaps one senior move can create.
Average base salaries have risen across all ten senior finance roles tracked in UK private equity-backed businesses, according to Finatal’s Senior Finance Professionals Remuneration Report 2026.
Some of the strongest increases are concentrated immediately below the CFO. Director of FP&A salaries have risen by 20.1% to an average of £157,008, Finance Director salaries are up 16.4% to £165,813, and Group Financial Controllers have seen a 7.3% increase to £140,087.
The findings point to a shift in the value of the people most likely to become the next generation of CFOs and the retention and succession challenge this creates for PE-backed businesses.
The market is repricing future CFOs
Proven CFOs can be difficult to attract from businesses where they’re performing well, appropriately rewarded and incentivised to remain through the investment cycle.
As a result, investors and portfolio companies are looking more seriously at candidates ready to step into the CFO role for the first time. Finance Directors, Group Financial Controllers and Directors of FP&A are increasingly credible options, with experience of leading critical projects and working against the investment plan.
A candidate doesn’t need to be actively looking to attract interest. The opportunity to take the number-one finance seat can quickly become compelling, while their current employer can’t always offer the same immediate progression.
We see the salary increases recorded in the report as consistent with that pressure. For businesses employing this talent today, a pay review can also be an investment in retaining capability that would be difficult and disruptive to replace.
Base salary is doing more of the retention work
The wider picture is not one of every element becoming more generous. While base salaries rose across all ten roles, five roles recorded higher average bonuses and five lower. Most benefits measured in the survey also became less prevalent.
That suggests employers are concentrating more of their investment in guaranteed cash compensation. But salary alone doesn’t define the proposition for senior finance talent in a PE-backed business.
Progression, investor exposure, decision-making authority and equity participation can all influence whether somebody stays. Exit experience also carries a premium: in our current market experience, an exit on a candidate’s CV can add around 20% to base-salary expectations, even where their direct involvement in the transaction differed.
One departure can create a chain of vacancies
If a Finance Director leaves for their first CFO position, a Group Financial Controller might be promoted to replace them. That creates another vacancy, while the newly promoted individual adjusts to a broader remit.
Critical work must also continue. If the departing Finance Director was leading an acquisition integration, cash improvement programme or exit-readiness project, the business still needs an effective owner for it.
Recruiting a replacement is therefore only part of the answer. The business may also require interim cover, additional support for someone stepping up or a redistribution of responsibilities, all while maintaining momentum against the value-creation plan.
Succession planning must extend beyond the CFO
Boards and investors are accustomed to asking who could replace the CFO. The next question is equally important: who would then replace that person?
Effective succession planning should follow each potential move through the finance team, identifying which responsibilities would lose an owner and what support an internal successor would need.
That doesn’t require a named replacement for every position, but it does require boards to understand which individuals are becoming more valuable in the external market and how many roles could be affected if one of them moves.
Career progression should be good news for the individual and, with the right planning, it doesn’t need to become a delivery problem for the portfolio company they leave behind.
Download Finatal’s Senior Finance Professionals Remuneration Report 2026 for salary and bonus benchmarks across ten roles, sector and location comparisons, benefits data and our perspective on how CFO demand is reshaping the finance team beneath it.
