Sample deliverable
The £750 Benchmark, on the page.
One UK role, one geography, three independent sources, every figure footnoted. Five working days from briefing. Here is what the board-ready one-pager actually looks like.
Head of Reward, UK law firm, 250 to 400 headcount
Recommendation
Set the Head of Reward base salary at £112,000 to £125,000, with a 15 percent bonus on target (75 percent of senior leadership target), a long-term incentive aligned to the wider senior leader plan, and a defined review at month 18. The market median for the full accountability set (UK law firm reward leadership, multi-office, regulated) sits around £118,000 to £128,000 across three independent sources. The recommendation sits at the lower end of that range to reflect organisation size and the absence of EU workforce complexity.
Role summary
Head of Reward for a UK-headquartered law firm, 250 to 400 headcount across multiple UK offices. Full reward ownership: salary benchmarking, pay band design, annual pay review, bonus and incentive design, reward strategy, pay transparency compliance. Reports to the COO or CFO. Manages a small reward team plus outsourced partner relationships (benefits, benchmarking, executive reward).
Benchmark evidence
| Source | Comparator | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Towers Watson UK Reward Survey 2026 1 | Head of Reward, UK professional services, 200 to 500 headcount | £98,000 | £118,000 | £138,000 |
| Mercer UK Total Remuneration Survey 2026 2 | Senior reward leader, UK financial and professional services, 250 to 500 headcount | £104,000 | £123,000 | £145,000 |
| Payband live advertised roles, Aug 2026 3 | UK law firm Head of Reward / Head of Compensation | £95,000 | £112,000 | £128,000 |
1. Willis Towers Watson UK Reward Survey, 2026 edition, role code R-HOR-RW-03, full-time gross annual base salary, UK professional services sector, organisations with 200 to 500 headcount.
2. Mercer UK Total Remuneration Survey, 2026 edition, role code SR-RE-FPS-07, full-time gross annual base salary, UK financial and professional services, organisations with 250 to 500 headcount.
3. Payband analysis of UK law firm Head of Reward and Head of Compensation roles advertised on LinkedIn, Legal Week Jobs, and The Lawyer between June and August 2026, deduplicated and median-ranked.
Recommended total reward package
Phase 1 (months 0 to 6): £112,000 base | Phase 2 (months 6 to 18): £118,000 on completion of agreed pay review milestones
Bonus on target: 15 percent of base, weighted 75 percent company performance and 25 percent individual objectives. Long-term incentive: aligned to the wider senior leader LTI plan, vesting over three years, subject to continued employment and performance gates.
The full accountability set, valued line by line against the three sources above, accrues to approximately £118,000 to £128,000 at market median. The recommended phasing closes that gap as the role matures, and gives the board a defensible written rationale for both numbers and the LTI structure.
Methodology caveat: figures triangulate two published surveys plus live advertised roles at the date of this report. They are a guide to market position, not a valuation of the individual. Benchmarks should be refreshed before any decision more than 12 months after this date. The recommendation is not legal or tax advice; specific contractual terms, including notice periods and restrictive covenants, should be reviewed by the firm's employment counsel separately.
What you get for £750
- One UK role, one agreed geography, three independent sources
- One-page board-ready report with the recommendation at the top
- Every figure footnoted to source with date and assumption
- Recorded video walkthrough you can replay or share
- One written clarification round within 5 working days