Heads of legal and consultancy firms (which are not, by and large, public companies) are paid similar rates.

ECONOMIST: Executive pay

International trade in financial and legal services, insurance and consultancy is tricky to measure, and exporters are easier to identify than importers.

ECONOMIST: Economics focus

The minister said this total included costs on legal, commercial, financial and technical consultancy and other professional fees, which were incurred from when the scheme was first launched in 2005 until 2009.

BBC: Failed offices scheme cost ?13m