Big bonuses for City & Guilds bosses after firm privatised

A pair of City & Guilds executives have each been awarded million-pound bonuses and sizeable salary increases after the skills charity's business was acquired by an international company in October, the Guardian understands.

- Simon Goodley

The payments - understood to include a £1.7m award for the chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and £1.2m to the finance director, Abid Ismail - have emerged at a sensitive time for the training and qualifications business as it navigates its first few months in the private sector.

Last week it was revealed how City & Guilds had embarked on a £22m cost-cutting drive and was shrinking its UK workforce after being sold by its charity owner to PeopleCert, an international certification company.

Alongside the bonuses, the Guardian understands Donnelly has been granted a £100,000 increase to her salary, which stands at about £430,000. Ismail's salary is also believed to have been increased by 30%, rising by about £70,000 to £300,000. The newly private company said management remuneration was only considered after the completion of the deal.