EA and PA Salaries in the UK in 2026: What the Data Really Shows

Every year, the question at the top of almost every EA and PA’s mind is the same: am I being paid what I’m worth? And every year, the answer gets more complicated.

The 2026 Lily Shippen Salary Survey, our most comprehensive to date, gives a clear, data-led view of what Business Support professionals are earning right now, across London, Manchester, and the wider UK. Whether you’re a candidate wondering whether it’s time for a conversation with your employer, or a business trying to understand where your offer sits in the market, this is what the numbers actually say.

The national picture: salaries are holding, but the gap between pay and responsibility is growing

The headline finding from this year’s survey is not a dramatic shift in salary levels, it is something more nuanced, and in many ways more significant. Salaries across the Business Support market are broadly resilient. There has been no widespread erosion. But in market after market, role scope is expanding faster than pay frameworks can keep up with.

EAs and PAs across the UK describe taking on project management, stakeholder coordination, strategic oversight, and operational leadership, all responsibilities that sit well beyond the original boundaries of their roles. The pay has not always followed. That gap is the defining tension in the 2026 market.

London: the highest salaries, and the highest expectations

London remains the strongest-paying market for Business Support professionals in the UK. Median base salaries sit at approximately £54,500, with a visible concentration of roles in the £50,000–£69,000 range and a meaningful number of positions above £80,000 for senior EAs and Chiefs of Staff.

Those headline figures need context, however. Higher pay in London is accompanied by significantly higher expectations. Many London-based roles now function as extensions of leadership teams, with EAs acting as gatekeepers, decision-makers, and operational anchors, often working beyond contracted hours as a matter of course rather than exception.

Pay progression in London is also more constrained than the salary levels might suggest. Respondents in the capital are actually less likely to have received a pay rise in the past year than their regional counterparts. Where increases have occurred, most fall within the three to five per cent range, incremental adjustments rather than meaningful step-changes.

Bonuses are more prevalent in London than elsewhere, particularly discretionary bonuses, and benefits packages tend to be broader, with private healthcare more frequently included. But even these enhancements do not fully offset the intensity of London-based roles.

Manchester: a market on the rise, but salary structures lagging behind

Manchester has become one of the UK’s most commercially significant cities, and that is reflected in its Business Support market. Median salaries in Manchester and the wider North West sit at approximately £44,500, with the £40,000–£49,000 band firmly established as the centre of the market.

What stands out in Manchester is the pace of role evolution relative to salary movement. Organisations are building leadership teams outside London, increasing demand for senior Business Support, but without always adjusting salary frameworks to match. Candidates describe increasing involvement in strategic initiatives and cross-functional projects, while pay growth has been targeted rather than universal.

On the positive side, respondents in Manchester are more likely to have received a pay rise in the past year than those in London. The challenge is that these increases are incremental, typically in the three to five per cent range, and more reflective of cost-of-living adjustments than strategic reward for expanded scope.

Regional UK: steady demand, but progression ceilings are real

Across the Midlands and wider UK regions, salary positioning remains concentrated in the £40,000–£49,000 band, with median earnings typically in the mid-£40,000s. On the surface, this looks stable. Beneath it, there is a clear and growing frustration.

Professionals outside the major hubs consistently report that their pay feels misaligned with their responsibilities, not because of unrealistic expectations, but because roles have expanded materially without corresponding shifts in reward. Pay rises are happening, but they are being experienced as maintenance, not momentum.

The lack of bonus culture and more limited benefits packages in regional markets mean the total reward proposition is materially weaker than in London, placing greater pressure on base salary to carry perceived value. Where that salary does not reflect the reality of the role, dissatisfaction builds quietly but persistently.

Progression is also structurally constrained in many regional markets. Smaller organisational footprints mean fewer formal senior roles exist, and experienced professionals frequently report that meaningful advancement would require a change of employer, a shift in role type, or relocation.

What this means if you’re a candidate

If you are wondering whether your salary is competitive, the answer requires more than a single national figure. Where you are based, the seniority of your role, the sector you work in, and the scope you are actually delivering all shape what fair compensation looks like.

What is consistent across all regions is this: the market has become significantly more transparent. Candidates are benchmarking more actively and more accurately than ever before, drawing on peer networks, salary surveys, and professional communities. If there is a gap between what you are doing and what you are paid, you are increasingly likely to know it, and so are the candidates your employer is trying to attract.

What this means if you’re hiring

Salary alone is no longer the primary reason candidates move. Culture, leadership, flexibility, and progression frameworks all carry significant weight. But salary that is visibly misaligned with role scope will lose you candidates before a conversation has even properly started. The market has lost patience with roles that expand informally without corresponding reward.

If your current salary structures were designed for roles as they existed three years ago, they may not reflect the roles as they actually exist today. It is worth reviewing.

For the full breakdown, including role-specific salary data, bonus and benefits trends, and regional comparisons – download the 2026 Lily Shippen Salary Survey

If you’d like to talk through what these benchmarks mean for your specific situation, get in touch with the Lily Shippen team.