Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 18, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 18, 2026
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UK pay settlements are rising, suggesting more generous deals in 2026 as businesses compete for staff, according to a Brightmine survey.
LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Pay settlements awarded by British employers have risen in value after a largely stable 2025, suggesting the start of a shift towards higher deals this year as businesses compete for staff, data provider Brightmine said on Wednesday.
The median basic pay award of 3.2% in the three months to the end of January represented a marginal increase from the 3% level recorded over 2025 as a whole, Brightmine said.
The Bank of England is monitoring pay growth as it considers when to resume its cuts to interest rates. A broader measure of pay in official data published on Tuesday showed a slowdown in earnings growth in the last three months of 2025.
Brightmine said:
* Two-fifths of the latest pay awards were up from theprevious year * Two-thirds of all settlements were worth between 3% and 4% * Challenges facing the economy mean employers are likelyto maintain a cautious approach to pay * April's minimum wage increase will leave less headroom forpay progression elsewhere * The data, collected between November 1 and January 31, wasbased on 59 pay awards representing just over 238,000 UKemployees(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Suban Abdulla)
The Bank of England is the central bank of the UK, responsible for setting monetary policy, including interest rates, to maintain economic stability and control inflation.
Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money or the return on savings, expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed or saved, influencing economic activity.
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