Google UK employees earned £226,000 on average last year
Staff at Google’s UK offices earned an average of £226,000 last year after the firm paid out more than £340m through its share scheme.
The tech firm paid £829m to its employees in the year to the end of June, up from £657m the previous year. The company, which currently has three main offices in London, also increased its staff numbers by almost 400 people to 3,658.
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The bumper year of pay came as Google reported a 10 per cent rise in UK revenues to £1.4bn. Pre-tax profit also increased to £246m over the period.
Employees reaped the rewards of strong trading over the year, as shares in parent company Alphabet rose to a peak last summer.
Google, which has been criticised alongside other tech firms for paying low levels of tax in the UK, reported a total tax bill of £66m over the 12-month period, a sharp increase on £47m the previous year.
But the figures do not include Google’s advertising revenues – which make up the lion’s share of the firm’s income – as they are reported in other markets.
Instead, the UK division acts as an outlet providing marketing and research and development services for the rest of the company. Google’s European headquarters are based in Dublin, where the firm pays lower levels of tax.
But the tax figures are much higher than Amazon, which last year handed over just £4.5m to HMRC.
Last month Chancellor Phillip Hammond called on the Competition and Markets Authority to launch a probe into the digital advertising sector amid fears tech giants such as Google are too dominant.
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Google is also braced for a new two per cent tax levied on digital businesses, which is set to come into force in April next year.
The firm is currently constructing its new King’s Cross campus, which will house 7,000 employees and is said to be longer than the Shard is tall.