To start, with a big thank you to all the ILFM members who took time out to participate in the survey.
Legal finance professionals from across the UK responded to this year's survey, giving us our most comprehensive dataset yet. The picture that emerges is one of a market that has stabilised, pay rises remain common, and whilst movement slowed towards the end of 2025, with the majority of professionals settled where they are; beneath the surface, a significant portion of the market are quietly keeping their options open. This has seen the first quarter of 2026 welcome a solid increase in vacancies due to both expansion and replacement.
Building great legal finance teams is getting harder, not easier. The candidate pool is less mobile than it has been for several years, pay expectations remain high, and flexible working is now a baseline expectation rather than a benefit.
Hybrid working policies are still adjusting across the sector, with 19% of participants having to work 5 days a week from the office, up from 12% last year. The most common arrangement remains a 3:2 split (2 days remote), with 12% of participants working fully remote.
When asked which of the two following factors would be the most important consideration when assessing a career move, Salary & Benefits featured in 58% of responses, with Flexible Working Arrangements in second place (42%), followed by People & Culture (20%), Career Growth Potential (14%) and finally Employer Size/Status (5%).
Staff loyalty appears to be consistent to previous years, with 63% of respondents intending to remain with their current employer for the next 12 months.
The aim of this survey is to provide an accurate salary benchmark for the different roles that make up the accounts teams of Law Firms across the country, taking into account regional variances and firm size (Large = 50+ Partners, Medium = 15-49 Partners, and Small = less than 15 Partners).
- The frequency of pay increases rose with 79% of participants enjoying a salary boost during the past 12 months, compared to 77% last year. True to historical form, those in larger firms were the most likely to receive an increase.
- The awarding of financial bonuses also increased, with 61% of participants rewarded a bonus, up from 58% in last years survey. Once again, the larger the firm, the more likely employees were to receive a bonus incentive. The average bonus was 5.5% of base salary, with 4–8% being most typical.
- The results pointed to a more stable hiring market with 7% of participants having joined their current employer within the 12 months prior, down from 12% last year. Activity was broadly consistent across firm sizes with 8% of large firm participants still within their first year, compared to 7% at Medium firms and 7% at Small firms.
- Employees at Medium sized firms appear to be the most content, with only 26% of employees being open to the prospect of switching employer during the next 12 months, in comparison to 27% at Small firms and 47% at Large firms.
THE REGIONS:
LONDON: Central London only
SOUTHERN REGION: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Wiltshire
CENTRAL REGION: Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, East Anglia, Essex, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire, Yorkshire
NORTHERN REGION: Cheshire, County Durham, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland, Teeside, Tyne & Wear
If you would like to discuss salary data for your specific location in a little more detail, please feel free to contact the team at Balance Recruitment on hello@balancerecruitment.com
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