Revealed – the best and worst gender pay gaps at UK brokers

Since April 2017, the UK government has required companies with 250 or more employees to publish data on their gender pay gaps – defined as the “difference between the average pay of men and women in an organisation” – as well as the gender balance of their pay quartiles and bonus payments.

Choose a broker from the dropdown below to explore its gender pay gap data.

All data has been sourced from the UK government’s gender pay gap service. Displayed figures relate specifically to the employees of the displayed legal entity name, as registered with Companies House. If a broker is based outside of the UK, the most relevant UK subsidiary was chosen.

Some brokers do not have available data, due to not meeting requirements for submitting mandatory pay gap data, or late submission of reports.

The businesses included above are the largest firms from Insurance Times’ Top 50 Brokers 2024 report, which was published last December.

Brokers see wider gap than insurers

Brokers, on average, paid women £0.67 for every £1 paid to men, a mean pay gap of £0.33 – some £0.12 wider than the average pay gaps at insurers.

As was the case with large insurers, the majority of the gender pay gap at brokers was driven by the ratio of men and women in different pay bands.

Women made up 59.7% of employees in the lowest quartile of earners, 58.1% of employees in the lower-middle quartile, 44.8% of employees in the upper-middle quartile, and just 28.6% of employees in the highest paid quartile of earners.

Men and women received bonuses at similar rates, with 71.7% of women and 71.5% of men receiving a bonus.

However, men received considerably larger bonuses – again due to their greater representation in the upper half of earners – with women receiving just £0.36 in bonuses for every £1 paid to men.

Notably, Acorn Group reported no gender pay gap in 2024, the best result of any broker or insurer.

Commitment to gender parity

First Central had one of the best gender pay gaps among brokers.

In its latest pay gap report, Jo McGowan, chief people officer at First Central, commented: “Our commitment to achieving gender parity at all levels of the organisation remains key and we are confident we pay colleagues equally for performing the same role.

“While we have made progress, we recognise challenges remain within specific entities. Within First Central Insurance Management (FCIM), we have seen a slight widening of the gender pay gap, largely due to recruiting more males into specialist and technical roles, as well as the impact of more females working part-time.

“We are making a concerted effort to close the gap further by balancing the number of men and women at senior levels.”

McGowan continued: “Group-wide, the proportion of women in senior roles has improved from 34.5% at the beginning of 2023 to 38% today. As part of our annual pay review process, we conduct equal pay audits and internally report on and analyse gender pay quarterly to monitor our progress.

“Our culture, built on the values of collaboration, ambition, agility and ownership, ensures that all colleagues feel valued and can be themselves at work.”

Gallagher UK had the worst gender pay gap of the major brokers, with a 51.8% difference between the mean pay of men and women.

Speaking in Gallagher’s pay gap report, David Cousins, chief risk and compliance officer at Gallagher Global Brokerage UK and EMEA, explained: “The UK’s gender pay gap reporting is an important mechanism for bringing greater transparency around gender pay.

”Gallagher, like many of its peers, currently has a gender pay gap and we are dedicated to addressing the issue. I am pleased to report that we have reduced our median and bonus pay gap by a number of percentage points since the last report.

“An inclusive culture is good for business and we want Gallagher to be an employer of choice for all colleagues and enable them to reach their full potential.”

On addressing the gap Nick Harris, chief executive at Gallagher Global Brokerage Retail UK and Ireland, added: “To positively change our results, we have identified three priority areas – recruitment, talent retention and promoting from within.

“Key actions implemented in the reporting period include further developing our inclusive hiring principles, partnering with external organisations to increase gender representation and investing in female talent development programmes.”