Gender Pay Gap Report 2018

We understand and fully support the social policy behind the gender pay gap reporting legislation. As a company and group of companies, we are willing to be open about how we treat males and females and we are committed to addressing inequality if it is identified.

Importantly, we are confident that there are no concerns regarding unequal pay in any of our companies. We carry out regular reviews of our basic pay rates as well as our bonus and commission structures and are certain that we pay males and females at the same rate and based on the same criteria.

Our Gap

Our gender pay gap is calculated in accordance with The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Across our company, our mean (average) gender pay gap is 30.2% and our median (middle) gender pay gap is 22.8%. These figures are based on a snapshot of earnings taken in April 2018. We have provided the data split by the individual companies in our group*.

	Mean Pay Gap	Median Pay Gap	Mean Bonus Gap	Median Bonus Gap
Barons	27.1%	21.7%	58.2%	56.1%
Barons Autostar	28.8%	24.6%	38.3%	23.5%
Hodgson	39.8%	46.6%	58.0%	40.6%
Spire	33.4%	52.7%	40.1%	56.4%
Think	21.1%	41.5%	71.1%	81.3%
Group	30.2%	22.8%	54.1%	59.2%

Barons includes Barons Bedford, Barons Cambridge, Barons Stansted, Barons Farnborough, Barons Hindhead, Chandlers Brighton, Chandlers Brighton, Chandlers Hailsham, Group 1 Automotive Central Functions.
Barons Autostar includes Mercedes Benz Norwich, Mercedes-Benz, Norwich Body Centre, Mercedes-Benz Cambridge, Mercedes-Benz Peterborough, Mercedes-Benz Bury St. Edmunds and Mercedes-Benz Kings Lynn.
Spire includes Barons Borehamwood, Barons Watford, Barons Kentish Town, Barons Ruislip, Finchley Road Audi, Watford Audi, Whetstone Audi, Hatfield Audi, Hatfield SEAT, Watford SEAT, Lakeside SEAT, Hatfield VWCV, Beadles Watford Jaguar Land Rover.
Hodgson includes Stansted Audi, Southend Audi, Chelmsford Audi, Harold Wood Audi, Chingford Audi, Audi Approved Colchester.
Think includes Think Ford Wokingham, Think Ford Farnborough, Think Ford Guildford, Think Ford Bracknell, Think Ford Reading, Think Ford Newbury, Think Ford Basingstoke.

The gender pay gap across our group that we will work to reduce is represented here in pounds.

£11.96

£17.13
- Mean hourly rate of ordinary pay (female)
- Mean ordinary pay gap
£10.22

£13.23
- Median hourly rate of ordinary pay (female)
- Median ordinary pay gap
£5,020.84

£5,918.67
- Mean bonus paid May 17 - Apr 18 (female)
- Mean bonus gap
£1,838.79

£2,666.61
- Median bonus paid May 17 - Apr 18 (female)
- Median pay gap

We believe our gender pay gap is due to there being:

A higher proportion of males in the senior roles that attract a higher remuneration package,
A higher proportion of males in the target driven positions that offer bonus related pay, and
Females making up approximately 75% of our companies’ part time workforce (not including zero hours workers).

Regarding the higher proportion of males in senior roles:

For some time our automotive industry has attracted male candidates for employment, unintentionally rather than by design. This follows a social history of schooling systems and colleges encouraging male interest in our industry’s technology. Our workforce reflects that history. We are proud to say that the brands we work with are leading the industry in terms of attracting female interest in the technology and the sales element of motor vehicles. Particularly, our partner brands as well as many dealerships within our company are reaching out to schools, colleges and other channels that may attract candidates for work experience, apprenticeships and trainees with the specific message that the industry can offer a vibrant career for women. Our industry has also adopted the nation’s 30% Club in its own Automotive 30% Club (chaired by Julia Muir) that aims to fill at least 30% of key leadership positions in its member organisations by women. We are proud members of that group.

Regarding the higher proportion of males in target driven roles:

The majority of our target driven roles that offer bonus related pay are technical and therefore labour intensive, or are in a sales environment that require a longer working week. Both of these elements have historically been considered less attractive to female candidates. Introductions of new technology make the labour less intensive and the company has been working with its sales workforce to accommodate flexible working applications. We hope both of these changes will encourage females to consider applying for target driven roles with bonus related pay.

Regarding the higher proportion of females in part time roles:

Our companies support part time and flexible working in appropriate positions and our workforce mirrors the nationwide pattern of approximately 75% of part time positions being held by women. We now recognise that our companies mirror the national picture of slower wage growth in part time positions and will consider means of addressing this such as basing pay increases on an hourly rate as opposed to a final annual salary.

Pay Band Quartiles

	Highest Quartiles		Second Quartile		Third Quartile		Fourth Quartile
	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males	Females
Barons # employees in each quartile	89.1%	10.9%	82.2%	17.8%	59.8%	40.2%	72.4%	27.6%
Barons Autostar # employees in each quartile	90.4%	9.6%	83.8%	16.2%	62.2%	37.8%	66.2%	33.8%
Hodgson # employees in each quartile	91.9%	8.1%	88.1%	11.9%	59.4%	40.6%	68.3%	31.7%
Spire # employees in each quartile	90.4%	9.6%	80.6%	19.4%	67.2%	32.8%	71.1%	28.9%
Think # employees in each quartile	94.8%	5.2%	83.7%	16.3%	72.4%	27.6%	85.7%	14.3%
Group # employees in each quartile	91.0%	9.0%	82.1%	17.9%	64.2%	35.8%	73.0%	27.0%

Our Policies

Our recruitment, career development and succession planning policies are all non-discriminatory and inclusive. We appoint candidates based strictly on a competency based assessment. We award development opportunities, promotion and training based on merit, all of which we feel enhances our emphasis on gender equality. We offer training to our management teams responsible for implementing these policies and all of our training (whether internally designed or held by one of our partner brands) is delivered with the specific message of our equal opportunities policy in mind.

Looking Ahead

Next steps that we can take to reduce our gender pay gap start with reaching out to more female candidates by a) actively advertising positions on female-oriented platforms, and b) re-energising our engagement with local schools and colleges. We will also review our maternity policy with a view to recommending enhanced payments. We hope increasing our female to male staff ratio should naturally lead to a higher proportion of women in better-paid positions provided all of our training, career development and equal opportunities policies are embraced. We will also review our development mechanisms for aspiring managers so we are confident they provide appropriate support for female employees. We are committed to reducing our gender pay gap and will discuss a gender pay gap target for consideration over the next five years.