EXECUTIVE and managerial salaries rose by an average of just under 6 per cent between July 1995 and 1996, according to the latest salary survey by management consultants Inbucon. This is the 30th consecutive year that Inbucon has produced its survey of executive salaries.

According to Inbucon, the 5.95 per cent average rise in salaries in the year to July 1996 compares with an inflation rate of just 1.5 per cent in the year to last August, indicating that company executives enjoyed increases comfortably ahead of inflation. Inbucon says that during 1995/96, headhunting of key executives has put upward pressure on salaries.

Inbucon says that the size of salaries is influenced by a variety of factors, but the size of the company is the important factor. While management positions in smaller companies involve more direct responsibility and require greater flexibility "the larger resources available to the bigger companies mean that they can pay considerably more for a position of similar status than smaller organisations".

Managing directors earned an average of £70,33& last year, an increase of 6.34 per cent, while executive directors earned an average of £56,327, an increase of 6.4 per cent. The average salary of the head of a major function within companies was £41,354, an increase of 6.52 percent, while average middle management salaries were £26,062, an increase of 5.76 per cent.

Lower management and junior middle management fared least well, with an increase of 4.52 per cent bringing their average salary to £18,506.

Almost 86 per cent of executives earning over £60,000 a year received a company car, compared to 81 per cent the previous year. An increasing number of managing directors are opting for a car allowance rather than a company car, explaining the fall in managing director company cars from 82.9 per cent to 73.9 per cent. Mercedes is the most popular company car for managing directors.