Donuts at Selfridges? Brokers in London earned less than police officers, marketing execs, telecoms professionals, transport bosses and lawyers in 2014

Who said brokers have it easy?

According to a list of the 15 highest paid jobs in Britain during 2014 which was compiled and released today by the Office for National Statistics, brokers in the City of London’s financial district earned an average of £1,149 per week, placing them, surprisingly as the 12th highest earners in their specific profession compared with other highly paid professionals in other industry sectors.

It is widely acknowledged that Britain’s economy is not only propped up but actually dependent on the financial services and institutional/interbank electronic trading sector in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf, and that Britain has a two-tier economy in which the provincial cities and towns – even the large ones – cannot compare in sophistication, technological advancement or modernity to London. Indeed the disparity is so great that 80 cities from the Midlands to the Scottish border, home to over 35 million people, do not produce as much revenue as the miniscule City of London.

It is therefore somewhat surprising that a number of professions which are not related to London’s financial services industry in any way whatsoever outperform brokers as Britain’s highest average salary earners.

In 2014, aircraft pilots and flight engineers earned an average of £1800.90 per week, some £650 per week more than brokers.

Whilst it is well known that commercial pilots are highly remunerated, the extra £2,400 per month that they earned compared with brokers in the city is enough for a mortgage on a  very nice second property. Add this to the absence of a need to live in London, the net disposable income of such professionals was likely amplified from a savings as well as an earnings perspective across the year.

It is not surprising that pilots earn a good salary, however with brokers’ remuneration packages often based on large bonuses, it is interesting that there was such a gulf.

Perhaps more surprisingly, certain public sector officials earned more than brokers during the last year. Doctors earned a significant £1,192.80 on average per week, and senior police officers earned £1,153 per week, a salary which would afford them the luxury of purchasing their donuts at Selfridges.

We live in such a digital age nowadays, and a competitive one at that. This is exemplified by salaries earned by Marketing Directors and Sales Directors last year, who earned an average of £1,341.70 per week, which is almost $300 per week more than brokers earned.

Similarly, advertising and PR professionals earned an average weekly wage of £1,253.10 last year, still noticeably above that of brokers.

The heavily trade union-orientated transport and logistics world weighed in as having high remuneration for staff, with professionals in the industry earning £1,589 on average per week, which is over $400 more than brokers per week – which is remarkable considering the high operating costs and non-electronic nature of the logistics business which requires expensive warehouses, trucks, fuel and insurance, plus the responsibility toward often perishable cargo.

A notable observation from the Office for National Statistics is that public sector earnings have slowed, but last year, before David Cameron’s keen look at public spending, the legacy of many years of socialist government stood out, marking out public sector workers to be higher earners than those in the private sector across all sectors.

Here is the full list, courtesy of the Office for National Statistics.

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers: £1,800.9
Transport associate professionals: £1,589
Chief executives and senior officials: £1,580.7
Air traffic controllers: £1,500.8
Marketing and sales director: £1,341.7
Legal professionals: 1,293.6
Advertising and PR directors: £1,253.1
IT and telecommunications director: £1,251.6
Doctors: £1,192.8
Financial managers and directors: £1,169
Senior police officers: £1,153
Brokers: £1,149
Functions managers and directors: £1,124.8
Senior officers in protective services: £1,076.8
Financial managers and directors: £1,034.9