Package for future RICS boss Sean Tomkins to be performance-linked following warnings he should not be 'the Jonathan Ross of surveying'

The RICS has revealed that the salary of its future chief executive Sean Tompkins will be £255,000. Tompkins will take up the role on 1 September, replacing incumbent Louis Armstrong, who was on £406,000 (£347,000 basic plus bonuses).

The announcement is part of a plan to link the pay of senior staff to performance following an external benchmarking review.

Sean Tompkins

It follows criticism aired before the announcement aired of RICS salary levels in Building and on its website. Gleeds managing partner Richard Steer warned in a recent column that the new chief executive must not become “the Jonathan Ross of surveying” in salary terms.

The RICS announcement said that Tomkins’s package would be assessed each year by leading members through performance reviews and changes would be recommended by RICS' remuneration committee.

It said: “If they judge he has performed well against the targets and objectives he stands to benefit from additional discretionary bonus awards. The parameters of these targets will be set at the start of each financial year and will be closely aligned to the corporate objectives agreed by the RICS Governing Council.

Peter Collis, Chair of the RICS remuneration committee, said:

“In setting the package for our new CEO, the remuneration committee, advised by Mercer reward consulting, sought to strike a balance between fair market reward for the size and scope of the role together with sufficient incentive to keep building on the worldwide performance of RICS.”