Directors will be biggest winners in this year’s pay round

Salaries among the most senior people in architecture practices – and those with desirable digital skills – have risen the most in the last 12 months, according to new figures.

Partners, directors and associates have all seen their salaries go up by 2.8%, while senior architects have enjoyed a lift of 2.9%.

Their more junior colleagues have been forced to accept typical pay rises of less than 2%, with a part I’s pay going up by 1.4%.

The rise is lower across the board than last year, when partners’ salaries went up by 3% and part Is’ by 2.7%.

The data, compiled by recruitment firm Hays for Building Design’s sister magazine Building, also shows that the capital is, predictably, the best-paid part of the country, although the London weighting is proportionately much higher for partners, adding as much as £35,000 to a salary. A typical partner in London will earn £87,000 this year.

By comparison, being in London only adds £2,000 to £3,000 to a part I’s salary and around £10,000 to a recently qualified architect’s pay packet.

Story continues below the table…

 

Architects’ salaries in 2020

Region	Partner/director	Associate	Architect (senior)	Architect (5 years PQE)	Architect (newly qualified)	Architectural assistant, Part II	Architectural assistant, Part I
East Midlands	£61,000	£47,000	£40,000	£37,000	£32,000	£26,250	£20,500
East of England	£58,000	£48,000	£45,000	£38,000	£33,000	£24,500	£19,000
London	£87,000	£68,000	£53,000	£46,000	£38,500	£31,500	£22,500
North-east	£55,000	£44,500	£42,000	£36,000	£32,000	£22,500	£19,000
North-west	£66,000	£49,750	£42,000	£38,500	£35,000	£26,000	£19,250
Northern Ireland	£52,000	£44,750	£41,000	£36,000	£28,500	£23,000	£17,000
Scotland	£60,000	£46,000	£40,000	£35,000	£30,000	£24,000	£16,000
South-east England	£66,000	£52,000	£48,000	£40,000	£34,000	£29,000	£22,500
South-west England	£54,000	£44,000	£40,000	£35,500	£31,000	£27,000	£17,500
Wales	£53,000	£42,000	£38,500	£34,000	£30,000	£26,000	£18,000
West Midlands	£62,000	£49,000	£40,000	£37,000	£33,500	£26,000	£19,000
Yorkshire and Humber	£62,000	£47,500	£42,000	£36,000	£31,500	£24,750	£19,000
National average	£61,333	£48,542	£42,625	£37,417	£32,417	£25,875	£19,104
Average change 2019-20	2.8%	2.8%	2.9%	1.9%	2.1%	1.5%	1.4%

 

Meanwhile, architectural technologists have seen their pay go up by between 3% and 4.3%, to £55,000 at the top end, while BIM and Revit managers raked in an extra 3.6% on average. Those in London are paid an average £58,000 – some distance ahead of the next best paid region for the role which is Scotland at £43,000.

All this fits with the picture being reported across the construction industry, where staff with the most desirable software and technical skills can expect to see bumper pay rises this year as the industry battles with others to plug hard-to-fill roles.

“We expect it to be a real challenge this year to recruit the top talent who hold digital skills or understand how to exploit digital technology,” said Martin Feakes, head of buildings in London at engineer Ramboll. “Such candidates are already at a premium.”

>> Also read: Architects with Revit skills earn 9% more

 

Daniel Harris, head of talent acquisition UK & Europe at Mott MacDonald, added: “The industry as a whole is looking at wider digital skills. There is real demand for technologists, product developers, software developers and others of similar ilk.”

More than 40% of employers believe the main cause of skill shortages is competition with other sectors for such roles. Harris said: “The fact that it’s not just our industry that’s after these individuals.”

Mace group human resources director Carol Hosey said construction had to become better at selling itself to make sure it got to see people with the type of skills needed.

“We can expect the demand for technical and digital skills to continue to increase. As an industry we have to be better at communicating that the construction sector is an exciting place to build a career in digital technology.”

Elsewhere, Richard Gelder, director at Hays Construction & Property, said the clarity given following the result of December’s election and the UK’s departure from the EU at the end of last month had triggered a hiring spree.

“The volume of jobs we are handling at Hays is on the rise as our clients forge on with their intentions to hire.”

Lucy England, UK HR director at Arcadis, said firms were now making moves for a round of post-Brexit hiring. “I think with Brexit we saw a bit of a general slowdown and some reticence in terms of people being cautious about moving,” she added.

The best paid role in the categories surveyed continues to be that of partner or director at a London QS where salaries stayed flat at an average £100,000 a year.

 

Architectural technologists

Region	Associate	Senior technologist	Technologist
East Midlands	£44,000	£37,500	£29,500
East of England	£52,000	£43,000	£35,000
London	£55,000	£49,000	£38,500
North-east	£45,000	£36,500	£28,250
North-west	£47,000	£41,000	£30,000
Northern Ireland	£39,500	£35,000	£25,500
Scotland	£42,500	£40,000	£28,000
South-east England	£51,000	£44,500	£35,000
South-west England	£40,000	£36,500	£26,000
Wales	£37,500	£33,250	£22,500
West Midlands	£46,000	£38,250	£30,000
Yorkshire and Humber	£47,000	£37,500	£28,500
National average	£45,542	£39,333	£29,729
Average change 2019-20	3.0%	4.3%	4.2%

Interior designers

Region	Interior designer (senior)	Interior designer (midweight)	Interior designer (junior)	Space planner
East Midlands	£37,000	£30,000	£20,000	£25,000
East of England	£39,500	£32,000	£20,250	£22,000
London	£50,000	£41,000	£23,500	£31,000
North-east	£30,500	£26,500	£21,000	£25,000
North-west	£39,500	£29,500	£19,250	£22,500
Northern Ireland	£30,000	£25,000	£19,500	£18,500
Scotland	£36,000	£29,000	£18,000	£20,000
South-east England	£38,500	£32,500	£20,000	£32,000
South-west England	£32,000	£27,000	£20,000	£30,000
Wales	£32,000	£26,750	£19,500	£30,000
West Midlands	£42,000	£30,000	£20,000	£25,000
Yorkshire and Humber	£31,500	£26,500	£21,000	£25,000
National average	£36,542	£29,646	£20,167	£25,500
Average change 2019-20	4.0%	2.8%	2.1%	1.3%