People in London and the South East earn more on average than anywhere else in the country – and have seen some of the biggest hikes in salary over a decade.
Every region in the UK saw average incomes rise, between 2008 and 2017, but there is a huge discrepancy between the most minted and the poorest areas, Government figures show.
Stats provide by the Office for National Statistics, and crunched by Plymouth-headquartered wealth management and investment firm Succession Wealth, reveal that London tops the income league table, with Nottingham at the bottom of the chart out of 380 local authorities.
The capital and South East dominate the upper reaches of the table. Out of the top 10 richest local authority areas, eight of them are in London and the other two are in the South East.
When looking at the top 50 local authorities with the highest incomes per head, 22 are from the South East, 20 from London and eight from the East of England.
Kensington and Chelsea has the highest level of income per head of population, at £64,868, of any local authority in the UK.
This is followed by the City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster where the corresponding figures are £57,259, £56,492 and £53,101 respectively.
Nottingham has the lowest income per head, just £12,445, of any local authority in the country.
On a regional basis, London tops the list with an average income per head of £27,825, followed by the South East (£22,568) and the East of England (£20,081). Wales has the lowest income per head of £15,754.
The average for the UK as a whole is £19,514.
The average income per head of population in the South West increased by 18% between 2008 and 2017, compared with a rise of 21.4% for the UK as a whole. It now stands at £18,984.
Incomes in London jumped by 27.3%, while the South East matched the national average of 21.4%.
Only the West Midlands and North East, saw above average wage growth. Wales was, again, bottom of the wage growth league with a hike of just 14.4%.
Mark Stokes, group communications director for Succession Wealth, said: “Our research shows there remains a real divide in personal wealth across the UK, with those in London and the South East with the highest levels of income.
“However, it’s important not to overlook the fact that the cost of living in these two regions, such as housing, is significantly higher than in many other areas where income per head is lower.”
Founded in 2009, Succession Wealth is the UK’s largest independent wealth management business.
It provides clear wealth management and financial planning services to individual and corporate clients.
It was started in Plymouth as Succession Advisory Services by founders Paul Morrish and Simon Chamberlain, who died in 2017.
Since then it has grown enormously, mostly by buying up independent financial advisors, to become a business with a staggering £7billion of funds under investment.
It means the company has expanded from just a couple of people to a nationally recognised busniess, with 600 staff nationally in 13 offices, including 75 in its head office where it now has the entirety of the three-storey Drake building at Plymouth Science Park.
