Gender Pay Gap 2024

We are required to report the mean and the median gender pay gap.

• Mean Gender Pay Gap: This is the traditional average, calculated by adding all hourly rates and dividing by the number of individuals. It compares the difference between the male and female means as a percentage. The mean can be significantly influenced by outliers, such as higher or lower-paid individuals.
• Median Gender Pay Gap: This is determined by identifying the middle hourly rate based on the number of individuals in each group (the midpoint). The report compares the difference between the male and female medians as a percentage. We focus on the median as it is less likely to be influenced by outliers and less prone to fluctuations caused by high or low earners, making it a more representative figure. The median is commonly used when comparing salaries and gender pay gaps across different companies.

Additionally, we are required to report the ‘bonus difference’ between male and female colleagues who received a bonus from May 2023 to April 2024.

Since we began reporting our gender pay gap, we have observed an overall decrease in both mean and median figures. This is our 8th year of reporting, and from 2023 to 2024, we have seen a decrease in our mean and median gender pay gaps, with our median reaching its lowest level since 2017. This change reflects the adjustments we made during the summer of 2023 through our promotion and salary review processes across all levels of the practice, including senior-level promotions during that time.

Over 8 years of reporting, we identified a lack of female representation in senior roles as a key factor in our gender pay gap (see Quartile data) and continue to focus on efforts on improving female representation in senior roles. Our workforce is 58% male and 42% female, though these percentages are moving closer to 50% each year.

Since 2017, we have increased the percentage of women in the highest pay quartile D from 13% to 22.6%. The number of both male and female colleagues in quartiles C and D remains similar to 2023. During the summer for 2023, we made internal promotions and salary increases which have supported the decreasing gender pay gap.

In the lower quartiles, A and B, we have seen the male / female representation equalise since 2017 and move closer to 50% / 50% gender split. During 2024, we saw an increase in the number of female colleagues in the lower quartile (A). This increase represents recruitment of female graduates in the 2023/2024 cohort. Due to the architectural education process, these graduates typically move back to university after one year to undertake postgraduate study. Therefore, our quartile A composition can vary year on year.

Our bonus gap has increased this year. Bonuses make up a relatively small part of our distribution to colleagues. In lower profit years over the Covid affected period, we distributed the same net payments to all. This year, due to increased profitability, bonuses have been distributed as differentiating bonus payments to reflect seniority and paid as gross payments.

• To be eligible to receive a bonus, individuals need to have worked in the practice during the previous business year, as the profits relate to that period of time.
• The main mechanism for profit sharing for our equity board directors is via bonuses, rather than salary or draw down. A proportion of profit is distributed equally as bonuses among equity directors, the majority of whom are male.

Bonus eligibility represents a snapshot from 2023 to 2024. All employees are eligible for a bonus if they have been here during the previous financial year. These numbers represent a period where certain members of staff were new to the company.

In this period 3.1% of male employees and 5.0% of female were ineligible for bonuses. These individuals were new to the organisation during the reporting period so didn’t receive profit related bonus payments from the previous business year. These individuals will become eligible in due course if they stay with the company and this will have an impact on our figures.