IG bumps up its juniors’ pay to stem departures

IG Group has whacked up salaries of junior staff to stop them jumping ship to rival firms.

The trading group, a sponsor of Harlequins rugby club (pictured), saw more people leaving its London office because it was paying less than competitors. So new boss Peter Hetherington put up pay and boosted benefits.

“We did a benchmarking exercise and found our salaries were below the market,” he said.

“The industry we operate in is relatively small and we find it quite tough to bring people in from outside. The company is built on having long-serving graduate trainees and they are really hard to replace.”

Pay and bonuses for its 1400 staff rose 13%.

Hetherington, who started as an IG trainee 23 years ago and took over in December, reported revenue of £456 million and profits of £208 million, up 14% and 7.6%.

Market swings normally boost IG’s profits but a reduction in borrowed money people could trade with leading up to Brexit is likely to have dampened short-term gains for the firm, he added.