ICAS chief’s pay hits £350k amid surge in overseas members

Mr Coella’s remuneration was revealed in the newly-published ICAS annual review for 2014, which revealed the total wage bill for other executive directors at the organisation increased from £798,000 to £834,000.

Also revealed in the review was confirmation that Jann Brown has formally stepped down from her role as president and will be replaced by Clydesdale Bank chairman Jim Pettigrew and Stagecoach chairman Sir Brian Souter will be vice-president.

Mr Pettigrew described it as a “great honour” to take on the presidency.

Meanwhile, according to the review, Mr Colella, who has been at the head of ICAS since October 2006, received a basic salary of £278,000 supplemented with a bonus of £56,000, £10,000 of other benefits and £10,000 relating to his pension.

The professional body, which employs about 150 people, posted revenue of £15.12 million for 2014, down slightly from £15.39m the previous year.

A pre-tax profit of £489,000 was also recorded, but this was down sharply from the £1.25 million banked in 2013 on the back of a one-off £622,000 windfall from the sale of investments.

Speaking on the organisations performance over the past 12 months, Mr Colella said ICAS has grown its overseas membership by 60 per cent over the past decade.

It had 6,300 members based outside Scotland in 2004 and that number is now more than 10,000.

Mr Colella said: “We are now a truly global institute and our ambition is to grow the reputation and impact of our organisation on the international stage even more in the immediate future.

“We are fiercely proud of our Scottish heritage but the new face of ICAS is increasingly diverse and ambitious as we aim to create a world-leading, international institute.”

The firm also said the ICAS Foundation is helping 39 people with mentoring and financial aid to help them pursue careers in accountancy and business.