Automotive 30% Club Members Report Impressively Low Gender Pay Gaps
The headline results of the UK 2023 Gender Pay Gap reporting are in, and while there's undoubtedly still work to be done, some of our Automotive 30% Club members are making great progress in closing the gap.
This is against a backdrop of very little UK wide progress since the reporting began, with the median pay gap across 10,181 reporting companies from all sectors being reported as 9.4%, staying stubbornly close to but slightly worse than the 9.1% figure when reporting was launched in 2017.
Here are our Top 5 Automotive 30% Club performers
Congratulations to Cox Automotive, leading the way with a median pay gap of just 1.5% versus the UK average of 10,181 reporting companies of 9.4%! This shows their ongoing commitment to gender equality in the workplace, and is a direct result of more women moving upwards in the pay quartiles. Martin Forbes, President of Cox Automotive said: “Cox Automotive will continue to lead the way across the automotive industry, ensuring that we support and champion our inclusion diversity and equity agenda across all the markets in which we operate. Through our employee engagement forums, we have an effective platform to continuously engage and listen to our team members, helping us to further shape the organisation and to achieve our mission of making Cox Automotive a great and inspiring place to work.
Euro Car Parts follows closely with a median pay gap to be proud of at 2.6%. Andy Hamilton CEO of LKQ Euro Car Parts said ‘We’re really proud to have a Gender Pay Gap that is well below the national average. But we’re not resting on our laurels and have made increasing the number of female colleagues in our organisation a strategic goal. Through programmes like PAVE and 25 by 25 we can build on what we’ve already achieved as part of the Automotive 30% Club, which has helped reshape the most senior levels of our business. Our industry has lagged others with its male-dominated culture for too long. It’s high time for change and we’re relishing the role we’re playing in its journey.”
The best performing automotive retailer in our membership was TrustFord at 3.2%. Stuart Mustoe, CEO TrustFord said, ‘I am delighted at the progress being made at TrustFord. We have been actively focused on our Diversity, Equity and Equality strategy for several years. We are determined to make sure we are consistently offering a fair opportunity for training and growth to everyone, including our female colleagues. It is really rewarding to see the latest data bring that approach to life and I look forward to seeing our strategy have an increasingly positive impact going forward.”
Motorpoint was nudging close to them at 3.4%. Cat Moseley Chief People Officer at Motorpoint said "We are really delighted to see the gap closing further and to hear how well we are benchmarking against peers in the sector. There’s been a lot of organic change over the last couple of years following a lot of conscious change and reflection on where we may have had some unconscious bias or untapped opportunity to drive a greater gender balance. As is often the case, as I am sure many of our peers are saying, we would like the results to be better and are keen to improve on this further and accelerate the journey to gender balance. It can’t be underestimated how important it is to see yourself represented within a business, in order to have the belief and inspiration to go for it! We are immensely proud of the outstanding role models we have here. Ensuring we help showcase these inspiring women and their journeys to the next generation of talent, through our schools outreach programmes is a definite priority in driving the long term change.”
Bentley also deserves recognition with 3.6%, powering through with a gender pay gap of less than half of the average for the UK manufacturing sector and the smallest pay gap of any of our OEM members. Karen Lange, member of the Board for Human Resources said “At Bentley we are continuing our strong commitment to close the pay gap. That’s why we have taken several important actions last year and will continue to do so in the future for our colleagues of today and tomorrow. Our Bentley cars are unique and one of a kind – and so are our colleagues. That’s why it is of utmost importance to create an inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish, meet their full potential and feel a sense of belonging.
A special mention also to the other automotive retailers in the Club who have a pay gap less than the 6.1% average for the UK retail sector: RRG at 5.1%, Arnold Clark at 5.8% and Available Car at 5.9%.