WPP : UK Gender Pay Gap Report 2019 and 2020

UK GENDER

PAY GAP REPORT 2019 AND 2020

INTRODUCTION

We believe that greater inclusion, diversity and gender balance creates more rewarding workplaces and more successful companies. Our aim is to ensure that all our people have the same opportunities to progress in their career within WPP.

Following the UK Government's decision in May 2020 to suspend 2019 gender pay gap reporting due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we are reporting both our 2019 and 2020 numbers together.

IMPROVEMENTS IN MORE THAN 80% OF WPP COMPANIES

More than 80% of our companies have improved their mean and median gender pay gaps. Overall, our consolidated mean and median gender pay gaps decreased slightly between 2019 and 2020 on a like-for-like basis.

We have focused on developing our female talent pipeline and have seen a 10% increase in women joining in the early career stage in the last three years. Nonetheless, there remains work to do to achieve gender balance at the most senior leadership levels. Where there are fewer women in the upper pay quartile, this results in a gender pay gap. Although we have made some progress, we are accelerating the pace of change across WPP.

During the last two years we have made various structural changes to our business, including a number of significant disposals. Our consolidated gender pay gap figures for 2019 and 2020 have been adjusted for the divestments to allow a like-for-like comparison.

A STRATEGY FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE To bring about systemic change across WPP, we have developed a set of global, long-term strategic goals to increase inclusion and diversity of all forms within the company. A key aim isgreater gender balance at the top. To create greater accountability, with effect from 2021 progress against our inclusion and diversity goals will be included in our business performance reviews and within the incentive schemes of senior leadership across WPP.

We have also recently formed WPP's first global Inclusion Council. The members of the Council have been chosen to represent the world in which we live and to reflect the breadth of our global organisation. Attended by our CEO Mark Read and chaired by Chief People Officer Jacqui Canney, the Council's role is to give a voice to underrepresented groups at the highest level of WPP, recommend programmes, policies and initiatives that will systemically create more inclusive and diverse workplaces, advise on leadership succession, remove barriers to progress, and help set aspirational targets for elevating diverse talent.

INVESTMENT IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN

To make progress in narrowing our gender pay gap, both at the centre of WPP and within our operating companies, we are working to review the ways in which we approach hiring, learning, career and leadership development, employee experience and rewards to ensure we are constantly evaluating our policies and practices and the impact they have on women's career paths.

Strengthening our senior leadership pipeline by making sure we have the right investment in career development and opportunities for women is a key component of our strategy. During 2020, we made a number of new investments including:

• - Launching our first cross-WPP sponsorship programme to ensure we help mid-level female talent move into more senior levels.

• - Developing an apprenticeship programme for female talent to increase representation within fields that offer long-term opportunities for higher salaries, such as data and digital. Addressing gender imbalance in traditionally male-dominated fields such as this will be a key focus for 2021.

• - Expanding our FAST FORWARD women's leadership programme from GroupM agencies to make it available to female leaders across WPP in EMEA, APAC and LATAM.

We are committed to ensuring WPP is the industry's employer of choice for all and have placed inclusive workplace cultures at the heart of our strategy for growth. We are working hard to create the systemic change required for all women to fulfil their true potential and reach the very highest levels of the company. At the same time, we recognise that there are industry-wide and societal challenges that mean change will be incremental and, given above-average tenures at the higher levels of our company, we do not expect our gender pay gap to reduce significantly in the short term. However, we do believe the steps we are taking will improve our gender pay gap performance over time.

THE WPP NETWORK

The UK Government requires all UK companies with 250 or more employees to report their gender pay gap information on an annual basis.1

WPP's subsidiaries in the UK employ approximately 10,000 people in aggregate. To give the most representative picture of WPP overall, we publish the consolidated data for all our UK companies with at least 250 employees.

1 Following the UK Government's decision to suspend 2019 gender pay gap reporting, we are reporting both our 2019 and 2020 numbers together in the same publication.

DEFINITIONS

PAY GAP

The difference (median and mean) in hourly rate of pay between all men and all women in an organisation, expressed as a percentage of men's earnings - at the snapshot date of 5 April.

MEDIAN PAY GAP

The difference between the midpoints in the ranges of men's and women's pay.

MEAN PAY GAP

The difference in the average hourly rate of men's and women's pay.

BONUS GAP

The percentage difference (median and mean) in total bonus payments received by men and women in the 12 months preceding the snapshot date.

PROPORTION RECEIVING BONUS

The percentage of men and women who received a bonus in the 12 months preceding the snapshot date.

PAY QUARTILES

Shows the proportion of men and women in different pay bands, with the workforce divided into four equal parts (quartiles).

GENDER PAY GAP VS EQUAL PAY

Equal pay means men and women being paid the same salary for carrying out the same or similar work, which is a legal requirement. This report, which follows UK Government regulations that came into force in April 2017, is about the gender pay gap: the difference in average hourly pay between all men and all women in a workforce. A gender pay gap is the result of gender imbalance - for example having more men than women in senior roles.

Gender pay gap, mean (average)

26.7%

24.6%

2019

2020

Workforce gender balance

52% Women48% Men

52% Women48% Men

Gender pay gap, median (middle)

17.6%

17.5%

2019

2020

Proportion receiving bonus 2019

• 36.7% Women

• 38.4% Men

Proportion receiving bonus 2020 40.7% Women

45.6% Men

Gender bonus gap 2019

Median 45.6%

Mean 69.7%

Gender bonus gap 2020

Median 50.0%

Mean 65.5%

THE WPP NETWORK CONTINUED

Our pay and bonus gaps are primarily due to the lower proportion of women in the most senior roles within the company.

Our data by quartile shows improvement. We now have more women joining than ever before. However, our continued focus will be on driving parity in the upper pay quartile.

To support our goal, we are establishing metrics across all of our businesses to regularly review our performance and adjust our working practices accordingly. With effect from 2021 progress against our inclusion and diversity goals will be included in our business performance reviews and within the incentive schemes of senior leadership across WPP.

In the UK, 50% of our entry-level hires are women. We have a comprehensive set of programmes to support equal development, progression and retention of men and women within the business, which includes leadership coaching, mentoring and unconscious-bias training. These programmes are aimed at ensuring women and men have equal opportunity to advance in their careers into the top quartile.

Lower pay quartile

Lower middle pay quartile

58% Women42% Men

59% Women41% Men

Upper middle pay quartile

60% Women40% Men

Upper pay quartile

58% Women42% Men

52% Women48% Men

52% Women48% Men

39% Women61% Men

41% Women59% Men

The data for our individual businesses can be found on page 5 and 6.

The entities listed below include all WPP subsidiaries in the UK which are required to report their gender pay gap data as of 5 April 2019, including our UK parent company, WPP 2005 Limited.1

Company

Ogilvy & Mather Group (Holdings) Limited Salmon Limited

WPP Brands (UK) Limited WPP Health Limited

Wavemaker Global Limited WPP 2005 Limited

J. Walter Thompson Group Limited MediaCom Holdings Limited MediaCom North Limited Mindshare Media UK Limited

Grey Advertising Limited Hill & Knowlton Limited Hogarth Worldwide Limited

Total for continuing operations

Essence Global Group Limited	8.6% 22.4%	8.9% 48.7%	65% 35%	51% 49% 50% 50%	52% 48%	65.3% 66.9%
Grey Advertising Limited	31.7% 35.9%	0.0% 8.2%	66% 34%	52% 48% 36% 64%	39% 61%	36.8% 19.2%
Hill & Knowlton Limited	8.9% 15.3%	20.0% 67.5%	51% 49%	41% 59% 31% 69%	43% 57%	18.7% 23.4%
Hogarth Worldwide Limited	19.9% 21.7%	14.3% 64.4%	64% 36%	58% 42% 42% 58%	37% 63%	7.2% 5.2%
J. Walter Thompson Group Limited	38.6% 35.4%	19.8% 43.0%	69% 31%	57% 43% 41% 59%	37% 63%	20.0% 14.4%
MediaCom Holdings Limited	5.2% 30.1%	0.0% 90.3%	55% 45%	41% 59% 41% 59%	47% 53%	78.9% 78.7%
MediaCom North Limited	11.6% 17.6%	0.0% 27.1%	67% 33%	43% 57% 49% 51%	40% 60%	94.2% 96.6%
Mindshare Media UK Limited	16.0% 25.8%	6.3% 50.3%	56% 44%	45% 55% 43% 57%	36% 64%	43.8% 39.8%
Ogilvy & Mather Group (Holdings) Limited	32.8% 28.5%	27.6% 41.1%	62% 38%	48% 52% 35% 65%	31% 69%	30.3% 29.0%
Salmon Limited	28.7% 27.5%	50.0% 44.3%	89% 11%	73% 27% 64% 36%	50% 50%	10.5% 7.6%
Wavemaker Global Limited	10.2% 10.9%	0.0% 7.9%	55% 45%	42% 58% 38% 62%	44% 56%	18.5% 15.1%
WPP 2005 Limited	38.1% 46.2%	86.8% 71.3%	72% 28%	57% 43% 42% 58%	35% 65%	24.3% 15.6%
WPP Brands (UK) Limited2	14.7% 24.7%	0.0% 34.7%	60% 40%	50% 50% 42% 58%	44% 56%	34.8% 35.2%
WPP Health Limited	21.2% 19.1%	40.0% 1.0%	50% 50%	39% 61% 31% 69%	20% 80%	2.9% 4.0%

69.7%

MedianMedian Gender Pay Gap

MeanMean Gender Pay Gap

Bonus Gender Pay Gap

Bonus GenderPay Gap (Upper Middle Quartile)

(Difference) (Difference) (Difference) (Difference)Quartile 4

(Upper Quartile)MaleFemale

17.6%

26.7%

45.6%

61%

• 1 To allow a like-for-like comparison, the Kantar group of companies and other divestments made in 2019 have been removed from our reporting.

2

Formerly Young & Rubicam Group Limited

Quartile 3

(Lower Middle Quartile)Quartile 2

Quartile 1 (Lower Quartile)MaleFemale

MaleFemale

MaleFemale

% Males who receive a bonus

% Females who receive a bonus

39%

48%

52%

40%

60%

42%

58%

38.4%

36.7%

The entities listed below include all WPP subsidiaries in the UK which are required to report their gender pay gap data as of 5 April 2020, including our UK parent company, WPP 2005 Limited.1

MedianMean

Company
Essence Global Group Limited	21.4%	22.4%	12.1%	35.3%
Grey Advertising Limited	26.5%	21.8%	60.0%	0.5%
Hill & Knowlton Limited	2.6%	10.8%	-11.1%	54.1%
Hogarth Worldwide Limited	19.4%	21.1%	25.0%	79.7%
MediaCom Holdings Limited	4.2%	26.4%	0.0%	89.8%
MediaCom North Limited	10.2%	16.5%	0.0%	13.0%
Mindshare Media UK Limited	16.2%	24.7%	16.7%	38.8%
Ogilvy & Mather Group (Holdings) Limited	24.7%	23.6%	37.1%	42.7%
Salmon Limited/Wunderman E-commerce	24.5%	23.4%	28.0%	42.2%
Wavemaker Global Limited	7.5%	11.5%	10.1%	29.2%
WPP 2005 Limited	44.9%	48.6%	60.0%	62.8%
WPP Brands (UK) Limited2	12.8%	8.5%	8.4%	1.8%
WPP Health Limited	17.1%	12.8%	25.0%	-18.7%
Wunderman Thompson	21.4%	16.3%	0.0%	-6.5%
Total	17.5%	24.6%	50.0%	65.5%

% Males	% Females
who	who
receive a	receive a
(Difference) (Difference) (Difference) (Difference)	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	bonus	bonus
64%	36%	54%	46%	44%	56%	43%	57%	73.3%	69.5%
65%	35%	46%	54%	40%	60%	40%	60%	12.3%	8.5%
46%	54%	39%	61%	34%	66%	49%	51%	21.7%	21.2%
62%	38%	57%	43%	41%	59%	38%	62%	5.2%	4.7%
54%	46%	39%	61%	42%	58%	47%	53%	87.3%	88.0%
66%	34%	46%	54%	44%	56%	42%	58%	89.6%	92.6%
54%	46%	45%	55%	42%	58%	35%	65%	46.0%	40.6%
59%	41%	45%	55%	36%	64%	33%	67%	25.9%	19.8%
83%	17%	66%	34%	61%	39%	53%	47%	73.9%	67.5%
51%	49%	42%	58%	43%	57%	40%	60%	14.2%	11.2%
74%	26%	58%	42%	48%	52%	33%	67%	43.6%	33.3%
51%	49%	50%	50%	47%	53%	39%	61%	11.3%	9.1%
44%	56%	41%	59%	32%	68%	32%	68%	7.7%	7.9%
63%	37%	58%	42%	50%	50%	34%	66%	90.7%	89.9%
59%	41%	48%	52%	42%	58%	41%	59%	45.6%	40.7%

Bonus Gender Pay Gap

Median Gender Pay GapMean Gender Pay Gap

Bonus GenderQuartile 4

Pay Gap (Upper Middle Quartile)

(Upper Quartile)

• 1 To allow a like-for-like comparison, the Kantar group of companies and other divestments made in 2019 have been removed from our reporting.

2

Formerly Young & Rubicam Group Limited

Quartile 3

(Lower Middle Quartile)Quartile 2

Quartile 1 (Lower Quartile)

DECLARATION

We confirm that the information in this report is accurate and prepared in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

KAREN BLACKETT OBE

UK Country Manager, WPP