See which Reading businesses have the worst gender pay gap

Figures have revealed which businesses pay men more than women. Credit: PA/Joe Giddens

by Jennie Slevin and Claire Miller

Men and women get paid the same at Reading Buses, it has been revealed.

Figures released to show the scale of the gender pay gap, show that Reading Transport Limited, the bus operating company owned by Reading Borough Council, recorded a median pay gap of zero per cent.

The travel company, which employs around 640 people, has been working hard to get more women workers into the bus industry, one that is traditionally dominated by men, and last year won Company of the Year at the Natwest Venus Awards which celebrate women in business.

Caroline Anscombe, the company's HR director, said: "We're really, really pleased with the figures, our mean pay gap is two per cent so while it's not perfect we're still quite proud of that.

"We want to encourage more woman to work at all levels in our industry, and our company."

While the majority of bus drivers are men (85 per cent), Ms Anscombe said the company had selected some female drivers to be role models to other women getting into the business.

However, she admitted it was difficult to allow bus drivers access to flexible working hours, but added it was important to make both men and women comfortable with taking shared parental leave.

Ms Anscombe said: "Although we're a fairly big and growing local employer we still try to be family friendly, it's important that people have got that balance.

"We recognise that people have lives outside of work and need to time to fulfill family commitments."

Ms Anscombe added the way bonuses were awarded aim to be fairer than other companies. With money being paid to drivers, engineering employees, cleaners and operations team rather than senior and office staff. The median bonus gap works out to be zero per cent, while the mean bonus gap was seven per cent.

Last year the Government made gender pay gap reports mandatory for any company which employs more than 250 people. The deadline for businesses and charities fell on Thursday, April 5 and the results give a snapshot of which industries need to improve.

Reading Buses was not the only Berkshire business to record a zero per cent gap, Sensory Dimensions, a leading consumer research consultancy based at the University of Reading's Whiteknights campus in Earley, Berkshire is one of the town's most equal employers.

Other businesses in Reading recording equal pay across the genders were:

• Style Acre, a care home based in London Street, Reading, Berkshire;
• Cavity Dental Staff Agency Ltd, based in St Peters Road, Earley;
• Dimensions UK Ltd, a charity working with children with autism based at Arlington Business Park in Theale, Berkshire.

Decco Ltd, a DIY and gardening distributor based in Newbury, and Wokingham businesses Rapid Commercial Cleaning Services and Brayborne Facilities Services also all recorded a median pay gap of zero per cent.

In terms of the area's largest businesses, those employing between 5,000 and 19,999 people, only one recorded a pay gap where women were paid more than men.

SSE, based in Forbury Place, Reading, said that on average women were earning 3.8 per cent more than their male colleagues.

Pay gaps for Berkshire's largest businesses

A number of other Reading-based businesses recorded an average pay gap in favour of women, including The Abbey School, Reading, (-46.7 per cent), Avis Budget UK, Bracknell, (-44.7 per cent), ESP Global Services, Reading, (-16.2 per cent) and Nirvana Spa and Leisure, Sindlesham (-16.1 per cent).

The companies with the biggest gaps for men earning more than women were Maiden Erlegh Trust, Earley, (59.5 per cent), Centurylink, Winnersh Triangle (50.8 per cent) and Pegasystems, Reading, (44.6 per cent).

What the gender pay gap looks like in Berkshire

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