Provident Financial : Gender Pay Gap Reporting

At Provident Financial Group, we are committed to supporting diversity and creating an open and inclusive culture where everyone feels valued. We also recognise that the Group has a key role to play in closing the gender pay gap across the financial services sector, given that it has traditionally been seen as an industry that has lacked diversity and inclusivity.

Set out below are the gender pay gap numbers we are required by Government to publish, which cover all staff employed by Provident Financial Management Services Limited (PFMSL), Provident Personal Credit (PPC), and Vanquis Bank (VBL) (the legal entities of Provident Financial Group that are covered by the Gender Pay Gap Regulations):

PFMS Gender pay gap report (PDF)

Vanquis Bank Gender pay gap report (PDF)

Provident Personal Credit Gender pay gap report (PDF)

Across the Group, we are aware that our gender pay gap is driven by the structure of our workforce where there is a much greater representation of men in senior roles, earning higher salaries. However, we know that we need to have a greater gender balance across senior levels so that we can lessen the gender pay gap and promote equality and inclusivity. To do this, we need to put more focus on how we attract, develop and retain female talent.

Ali Humphries, Group Human Resources Director of Provident Financial plc commented:

'While it is encouraging that the data we have published today shows that the gender pay gap in those parts of Provident Financial Group that are required to produce reports has closed in some areas, it is obviously disappointing that they still exist because of the lack of women in higher-paying positions. It is therefore imperative that we remain committed to supporting diversity and creating an inclusive culture for all our colleagues and other stakeholders.

To help us deliver on this commitment, we recently became a signatory to HM Treasury's Women in Finance Charter which, among other things, will see the Group commit to setting specific targets to have more female representation in its senior management population. This forms part of the Group's wider equality and diversity plan to create a more inclusive workplace culture by, for example, making improvements to family-friendly policies and launching a leadership development programme to accelerate the success of current and future female leaders across the company.

'Our long-term goal is to create a diverse, open and inclusive place to work where everyone feels like a valued member of the team. This will not only help us to create a culture that is customer-centric, it will also drive innovation and productivity and enable us to successfully deliver our purpose and strategic objectives.'

What is the Gender Pay Gap?

Following the introduction of The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017, all companies employing 250 or more employees in England, Scotland and Wales are required to complete a gender pay gap analysis based on pay data on the snapshot date of 5 April of a given year. Qualifying employers have to report on their gender pay gaps, using six different measures which have been defined by the UK Government (ie mean gender pay gap, median gender pay gap, mean bonus gender pay gap, median bonus gender pay gap, proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment, and proportion of males and females in each quartile band of hourly pay).

The Regulations are intended to encourage employers to disclose areas where gender pay gaps exist and then take informed action to close them.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. The gender pay gap shows the differences in the average hourly pay and bonus between men and women, whereas equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value.

Contacts:

Jade Byrne or Richard King, Provident Financial plc 01274 351 900

Nick Cosgrove/Simone Selzer, Brunswick 0207 4045 959
[e-mail]