Over 2,200 TfL employees earned more than £100k last year, accounts show

Over 2,200 Transport for London (TfL) employees earned more than £100,000 last year. TfL’s Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March 2025 show that the organisation’s highest earner is Commissioner Andy Lord, who earned £639,164.

Other high earners are Chief Capital Officer Stuart Harvey, who received £423,583; Chief Finance Officer Rachel McLean (£437,454); Chief Customer and Strategy Officer Alex Williams (£382,236); Chief People Officer Fiona Brunskill (£377,654); Chief Operating Officer Claire Mann (£307,206); General Counsel Andrea Clarke (£298,541); and Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer Lilli Matson (£269,3465).

TfL said that in the years since 2016, inflation and salaries in the external market have risen more significantly than budgets provided within the organisation, with “record levels of inflation in 2022 and 2023 while the £100,000 comparison threshold has remained static”.

If the £100k figure had risen since 2016 in line with the February Retail Price Index (RPI) each year, the equivalent value would now be £151,541, with 48 employees on a higher salary than this, said TfL. “If it had risen in line with the February Consumer Price Index (CPI), it would be £136,233, with 82 employees above this level. There were 188 employees on a higher salary than £100,000 in 2016.”

Much of the increase in overtime shown in the Financial Statements relates to specialist engineers working overnight and at weekends on major projects, according to TfL. “These included works in preparation for new Piccadilly line trains entering service, testing for the new trains on the DLR, power upgrades across the network as well as installing new signalling on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.”

TfL’s People and Remuneration Committee said it uses independent external benchmarking to assess how the salaries of the organisation’s Chief Officers compare with similar organisations. This has shown that the base salaries and comparable remuneration for the Commissioner and Chief Officers are significantly below the market level, with total estimated overall remuneration an average of 45% of peer group benchmark levels and 72% of the publicly accountable group market benchmark levels, the committee said. 

It pointed out that in early 2022, the number of positions in TfL’s Executive Committee was reduced, saving “hundreds of thousands of pounds each year”. In recent years, a number of other senior managers have also left TfL to take on new senior roles at a range of organisations, highlighting the challenge of retaining talent in a highly competitive market, it added.

TfL also stressed that no performance awards were paid out to employees during 2022/23, with the schemes in operation for 2021/22 and 2022/23 subject to it being financially sustainable by April 2023. “In addition, TfL needed to run its operations free of extraordinary Government funding for revenue support, as evidenced by TfL’s annual budget and business plan for the 2023/24 financial year, in order to trigger payment of any awards. As a result, all performance award payments for 2021/22 and 2022/23 were paid during 2023/24. There was also no performance award for TfL staff for 2020/21.”

A TfL spokesperson said: “TfL is a complex £9bn a year turnover organisation that is central to the success of London and the UK – getting millions of Londoners and visitors to where they need to go each day, and delivering complex engineering projects across the city to improve transport for everyone.

“We are investing billions in improving the transport network and now, for the second year in a row, have achieved an operating surplus for operations. This means that our revenues cover the costs of running the existing transport network, with any surplus directly invested back into the transport network.”

TfL services and transport upgrades supports 100,000 jobs by investment in the supply chain across the country, the spokesperson told LTT. “At the same time, we have continued to make the organisation more efficient – with £1.5bn of annual recurring savings delivered since 2016. The number of senior leaders at TfL has decreased since 2016, and in more recent years the vast majority of the year-on-year increase in base salaries over £100,000 relating to colleagues below senior manager level within our operational areas.

“During 2024/25, there was a rise in the number of employees listed as earning more than £100,000 due to backdated pay increases from the previous financial year being implemented, higher inflation, and a greater number of overtime payments due to vital works taking place on the network to ensure it remains safe, reliable and accessible.”

The spokesperson added: “In a highly competitive market, in which comparator companies pay their top executives significantly more than TfL, it is essential that we continue to attract and retain staff across all disciplines of the organisation, which includes ensuring that pay increases are achieved across all levels of colleagues.”

 

TfL's top earners

Andy Lord, Commissioner, £639,164

Rachel McLean, Chief Finance Officer, £437,454

Stuart Harvey, Chief Capital Officer, £423,583

Alex Williams, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, £382,236

Fiona Brunskill, Chief People Officer, £377,654

Claire Mann, Chief Operating Officer, £307,206

Andrea Clarke, General Counsel, £298,541

Patrick Doig, Group Procurement and Commercial Director, £297,298

Lilli Matson, Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer, £269,3465

Graeme Craig, Director and Chief Executive, Places for London, £240,510

Nick Dent, Director of Customer, Operations - London Underground, £239,362

Isabel Coman, Director of Engineering and Asset Strategy, £229,874 

Nick Fairholme, Director of Capital Delivery - Systems, £219,628 

Matt Brown, Director of Communications and Corporate Affair, £216,202

Christina Calderato, Director of Strategy, £213,671