Bonuses on the rise for nearly half of UK bankers

Almost half of UK bankers and financial professionals who have already been told their 2010 bonus received an increase on last year.

But those working at taxpayer-owned banks got only around a third of what their rivals at bulge-bracket banks picked up, according to a survey by recruitment website eFinancialCareers.com.

The poll of 650 professionals found the average bonus for front-office staff was £84,409, some 5% higher than a year ago. But one-in-four people saw a cut in their bonus.

James Bennett, director at eFinancialCareers.com, said: "Retention of key staff is going to be a dominant theme during 2011 as financial institutions tackle the challenge of meeting compensation guidelines set by regulators and the earnings expectations of employees.

"We see this issue being particularly acute among younger staff as our data shows that the largest bonuses are being paid to those professionals with 15 years or more experience."