Gender Pay Gap

From those supplying business energy supply, to the biggest national supermarkets across the country, every industry has been guilty of gender disparity in one way or another. Since the introduction of the Equality Act in 2010, there have been ongoing discussions about pay parity between genders. Research suggests that as many as eight in 10 employers pay men more than women, which indicates that we still have a long way to go before the UK reaches pay parity.

If you worked at a company that paid you less than your fellow employee for the same work, would you still want to work there? To help provide you with some insight, we have delved into data from the most profitable companies in the UK to reveal which are responsible for the biggest pay gap between genders.

1. British-American Tobacco (BAT) Plc – Women earn £1.17 for every £1 that men earn

Often abbreviated as BAT, British-American Tobacco Plc comes out on top as the company who are paying women the most money on average compared to their male counterparts. Despite women earning £1.17 for every £1 that men earn, BAT recently received a high score when compared to other companies in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index – which recognises those going above and beyond in regard to gender equality, including gender pay parity. Although there is still work to be done, it is clear that BAT is taking the necessary steps to tackle gender inequality within the company.

1. St. James’s Place Plc – Women earn £0.64 for every £1 that men earn

St. James’s Place, whose main purpose is to provide clients with financial advice, are paying women £0.64 for every £1 that men are paid. Despite the large pay disparity between men and women, in which women are second-best, this company has detailed the ways in which they plan to reduce the current pay gap. This plan includes reviewing the recruitment of senior roles currently dominated by men, in an effort to hire more women for higher-paid job roles.

1. Anglo-American Plc – 36.54% increase in women’s hourly pay in the last 5 years

Anglo-American are among the most profitable companies in the UK in recent times, and they have been putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to pay equality. As of 2017, the female employees at Anglo-American were earning just £0.52 for every £1 that their male counterparts were earning, that’s nearly twice as much! Fortunately, this gender pay gap has improved considerably with the most recent data showing a 36.54% increase in women’s median hourly pay.

1. Compass Group Plc – 49.60% of highest paid earners are women

You may be unfamiliar with the company name, Compass Group, but if you have ever gone out for a meal in the UK then it is likely that they have provided you with your food! Of the thousands of UK employees at this company, women make up 49.60% of the highest-paid earners. As well as this, Compass Group are the closest to parity of all the entries in this list when it comes to the proportion of highest earners.

1. HSBC Holdings Plc – 12% of highest-paid earners are women

As the largest bank in Europe by total assets, HSBC Holding is no stranger to finances and earning money. Having said this, it appears that the male employees at this company are more familiar with the higher-paid jobs as women occupy only 12% of the highest-paid jobs. However, this company have stated that they are taking steps to address this disparity in the future.

Methodology

We used Global Database and Companies Market Cap to compile a list of the biggest companies in the UK by revenue.

We used GOV.UK data to find the following information for each company: gender hourly pay gap for 2017/18 and 2022/23, and the percentage of highest earners split by gender. For some companies, the 2022/23 report was not published, so the most recent report was used.

We subtracted the women’s average hourly pay in 2022/23 by the women’s 2017/18 before dividing this by the 2017/18 average to calculate the change in women’s median hourly pay.