Chief executives of the UK’s largest companies tend to serve longer, are more likely to have a strong financial background and are younger than the CEOs of the top global companies, according to research by Robert Half, the specialist recruitment consultancy.  

The analysis of FTSE 100 and Standard & Poor’s Global 100 CEOs found the average tenure for the current CEOs of the world’s largest 100 companies is four years and three months, compared to five years and five months for their UK counterparts.  
FTSE 100 CEOs have a stronger background in finance than their global counterparts, with two in five (39%) of UK-listed chief executives having some sort of financial career path, compared with just over one in four (26%) S&P Global 100 CEOs with a finance background.
The average age of a FTSE CEO is currently 52, whilst global CEOs are older, the average age being 56 years.
According to Robert Half, the best route to the top is through a career in finance. Nearly one in three (32%) of the 200 CEOs polled had a background in finance prior to appointment as chief executive officer.

Phil Sheridan, managing director of Robert Half, said: “Understanding the financial aspects of the company is one of the most important competencies of a chief executive. Our analysis shows the world’s leading companies continue to put a high significance on financial skills when choosing their boardroom leaders, and in the current economic environment this is unlikely to change as business leaders face a period of uncertainty in the global financial marketplace.”

Despite UK CEOs having spent longer in office, the analysis highlighted a steady turnover of CEOs year on year, with 12% of FTSE CEOs and 17% of global CEOs having less than 12 months under their belts.