City & Guilds CEO Kirstie Donnelly’s pay surged past the half-million-pound mark before the charity sold its awarding and training business, accounts reveal.
The charity’s latest filings also suggest it banked £166 million from the sale to Greek-owned certification giant PeopleCert last year. This is the first time an actual sale price has been reported.
In the 12 months to August 31, 2025, Donnelly was paid a £335,000 salary, £64,195 in benefits and a £126,321 bonus – almost twice the size of the bonus she received the year before.
The £525,516 total pay packet in 2024-25 was 17 per cent higher than the previous year’s package of £448,174, which comprised a salary of £324,960, benefits of £56,214 and bonus of £67,000.
The pay disclosure comes after the Charity Commission opened a formal statutory inquiry into the sale of City & Guilds’ commercial arm, following reports that buyer PeopleCert handed Donnelly (pictured) an additional £1.7 million bonus shortly after the deal closed on October 31, 2025, plus a pay rise of around £100,000 that pushed her salary to £430,000.
Donnelly and finance director Amid Ismail have since been placed on leave, with PeopleCert launching its own internal probe into “events before and after the sale” and the “individual conduct of executives”.
Ismail is reported to have received a £1.2 million bonus, along with a 30 per cent salary increase to £430,000.
Trustees of the charity have repeatedly insisted they were “not involved” in any discussions about bonus payments before or after the sale.
However, earlier this month, City & Guilds Foundation admitted there were “discussions” among trustees last May about the “possibility” of an “incentive payment” to executives to “help secure the greatest residual value to the charity for its future use”.
The board claimed to have “subsequently decided not to establish such an incentive” and claimed to record this decision in its October board meeting minutes.
Sale price revealed?
The accounts – for City & Guilds Foundation, the charity that continues to exist after the sale of its awarding operation – also appear to confirm for the first time how much money the organisation made from the deal.
They state: “The divestment of the group’s commercial activities will have material impacts on the group’s and institute’s future activities and its financial statements in the next financial year as its income and expenditure related to commercial activities will cease from November 1, 2025 and assets and liabilities related to those activities will be disposed.
“Estimated net proceeds for the disposals, after selling costs, was £166 million.”
The foundation confirmed to FE Week the £166 million figure “refers to the net cash proceeds received directly from the sale transaction itself”.
The foundation previously said that financial terms of the transaction were “commercially confidential”, but added the charity would receive a “very significant financial benefit” which includes “gross assets of approximately £180 to 200 million being available to the charity, including the proceeds of sale and the provision of office space for a period of five years”.
The City & Guilds transaction generated further controversy after it was discovered the new owners planned to reduce staff headcount at the awarding body, including moving some jobs to its home country of Greece where labour costs are lower.
City & Guilds Foundation reiterated to FE Week it was “evident” the charity’s “historic operating model was becoming increasingly unsustainable” and trustees acted “decisively and responsibly to protect the charity’s long‑term mission, securing an excellent deal at a highly competitive price through a rigorous, multi‑bidder process”.
The statement added: “This was unequivocally the right strategic decision. Retaining the commercial businesses would have required major ongoing investment and carried growing financial risk. The sale removes that burden, places CGLI on a very strong financial footing, and allows us to focus fully on delivering social impact at scale.”
New chair wanted
City & Guilds Foundation is now searching for a new chair following the departure of Dame Ann Limb, who is stepping down to take a seat in the House of Lords. The FE sector grandee suffered her own controversy recently when she admitted to falsely claiming she held a PhD.
In a recruitment advert published this week, the charity described the moment as an “incredibly exciting time” and said it was looking for a new chair to help deliver “the greatest societal impact and long-term systems change”.
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