Companies House gender pay gap report and data 2024
Published 25 March 2025
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1. Executive summary
Companies House has prepared this report as part of the legal requirement for public authorities to publish their gender pay gap each year.
Companies House is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade with a headcount of 1,308.9 as at 31 March 2024 (an increase of 186 from the previous year).
Over the course of the year we have undertaken activities focusing on providing career development opportunities, as well as showcasing the role of women in ensuring that we continue to deliver our services to a very high standard, further contributing to the culture that we have created and showcasing Companies House as an employer of choice.
We are proud to be able to showcase our commitment to gender equality from the very top of our organisation with a female CEO as well as 5 of our 9 executive board members, at Senior Civil Servant (SCS) grade. One of our female executive board members is also our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) champion.
The effectiveness of these colleagues, in terms of providing role model and mentoring roles is testament to our commitment to encourage women to thrive in senior leadership roles as well as reinforce our commitment to reducing our gender pay gap.
2. Introduction
Companies House is fully committed to ensuring the fair treatment and reward of all colleagues irrespective of gender. We recognise that intersectionality in terms of other protected characteristics, including age, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and disability status, should also be considered when looking at employee experience.
Promoting equality and inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do. We reinforce our organisational commitment in our 2020 to 2025 strategy by stating that ‘Inclusion is the golden thread that runs through all Companies House activity. We strive to build an inclusive, positive culture where everyone can bring their whole selves to work.’
Our commitment to supporting women to flourish in the workplace is evidenced by:
- more women than men continuing to hold the most senior positions in our organisation - 56% of our SCSs and 52% of our Grade 7 and Grade 6 employees are women
- the relaunch of our women’s network with a female senior sponsor from our executive board and an established steering group, following our successful International Women’s Day campaign
- the continuation of our EDI steering group - chaired by our executive board level diversity champion - which brings together colleagues from all our EDI networks, the trade union and representatives from across directorates
3. Gender pay gap report
The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate that there may be a number of issues to deal with.
The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.
Our data has been sourced via the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES).
3.1 Gender pay and bonus gap 2024
Mean is the average in the data set, and median is the middle number in the data set.
Table 1: Gender pay and bonus gap 2024
| Mean difference between men and women | % change from 2023 | Median difference between men and women | % change from 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender pay gap | 12.9% | +0.5% | 18.3% | 0% |
| Gender bonus gap | 2.2% | -6.8% | 0% | 0% |
The data in table 1 highlights that our:
- mean gender pay gap has increased by 0.5% since 2023
- median gender pay gap is the same as 2023
- mean gender bonus gap has decreased by 6.8% since 2023
- median gender bonus gap is the same as 2023
Looking at Civil Service wide figures, the median gender pay gap for the Civil Service fell from 9.6% in 2023 to 8.5% in 2024. The mean gender pay gap for the Civil Service also fell, from 8.1% in 2023 to 7.4% in 2024.
The median bonus gender pay gap for the Civil Service decreased from 25.4% in 2023 to 22.4% in 2024. The mean bonus gender pay gap increased from 23.5% to 25.7% across the same period.
Table 2: Companies House employees by grade 2024
| Grade | Number of men | Number of women | Percentage of men | Percentage of men 2023 | Percentage of women | Percentage of women 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative assistant (AA)/administrative officer (AO) | 148 | 265 | 36% | 35% | 64% | 65% |
| Executive officer (EO) | 164 | 198 | 45% | 47% | 55% | 53% |
| Higher executive officer (HEO)/senior executive officer (SEO) | 261 | 229 | 53% | 50% | 47% | 50% |
| Grade 7/Grade 6 | 59 | 64 | 48% | 50% | 52% | 50% |
| SCS | 4 | 5 | 44% | 38% | 56% | 63% |
| Total | 636 | 761 | 46% | 44% | 54% | 56% |
Chart 1: Gender composition by grade 2024
| Grade | Percentage of men | Percentage of women |
|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 36% | 64% |
| EO | 45% | 55% |
| HEO/SEO | 53% | 47% |
| Grade 7/6 | 48% | 52% |
| SCS | 44% | 56% |
| Total | 46% | 54% |
This table and chart show a breakdown of the workforce in relation to grade. The pattern continues from our last report with highest percentages of female staff at AA/AO grade. Similarly, our highest concentration of male staff continues to be at HEO/SEO grade with a large number of these roles in the IT field.
Although we continue to employ more women than men, our overall percentage of 54% is 2% less than our previous report. Representation of women at Companies House is slightly higher than the UK population census figure of 51%.
4. Analysis of pay gap
The following gender pay gap statistics have not included the additional non-consolidated one-off payments made to civil servants in 2023.
The payments were not considered to fall within the scope of pay for the purpose of calculations. They were also made outside the relevant pay period of March 2024 for the main pay gap statistics and are therefore excluded from those calculations.
The payment has also been excluded from the bonus pay gap statistics as the payment was not by way of a bonus for these purposes. To treat it as such would serve to mask the true bonus pay gap figures for 2023 to 2024.
In most grades, women have a higher median pay than men, but the mean pay gap still shows men earning more. This is because more men than women are paid at the top of their scale. Overall, the main reason for the gender pay gap is the distribution of the workforce across pay grades.
Table 3: Gender distribution by pay quartile
| Gender | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 35.9% | 64.1% |
| Lower middle quartile | 41% | 59% |
| Upper middle quartile | 35.4% | 54.6% |
| Upper quartile | 60.3% | 39.7% |
There are a significant number of women in the AA/AO grade. This results in a higher proportion of female employees in our lower and lower middle quartiles. In the upper middle quartile, 35.4% are men and 54.6% are women, and in the upper quartile the breakdown is 39.7% women and 60.3% men.
We’ve previously researched why there is a lack of progression to higher roles from women in our AA/AO grade. Feedback included a perception that working part time limited opportunities for promotion, alongside a lack of confidence or a perceived unlikelihood of success preventing them from applying for a promotion.
We have plans to extend our evidence gathering, so we can use a more targeted approach to build plans. For example, looking closer at our recruitment data and how we can attract women to higher grades or what barriers continue to cause the gap.
4.1 Recruitment and retention
In 2023 to 2024, our workforce resourcing plan focused on having the right people in place at the right time, with the right skills to support the preparation for and implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Act 2023.
Table 4: Gender and grade of applications 2024
| Grade | Number applications | Percentage of men | Percentage increase from 2022 to 2023 | Percentage of women | Percentage increase from 2022 to 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AO | 185 | 37.8% | -6.6% | 59.5% | +10.1%% |
| EO | 163 | 42.3% | -12% | 56.4% | +13.5% |
| HEO | 80 | 52.5% | +13.7% | 38.8% | -17.9% |
| SEO | 88 | 39.8% | -10.8% | 56.8% | +10% |
| Grade 7 | 29 | 48.3% | -3.6% | 44.8% | +4.1% |
| Grade 6 | 9 | 33.3% | -36.7% | 66.7% | +36.7% |
| Total | 554 | 636 | 761 | 46% | 54% |
4.2 Key observations
There was a substantial increase in applications for lower to mid-level positions (AO, EO, SEO).
Women’s representation improved in most grades, particularly in AO, EO, and SEO positions.
The HEO grade saw a reversal in gender representation, with men becoming the majority of applicants.
Grade 6 saw a significant shift towards female applicants, though the sample size is small.
The proportion of applicants preferring not to disclose their gender decreased in most grades.
These changes align with some trends mentioned in the results, such as the increasing representation of women in various roles. However, the data shows more progress in gender diversity at higher grades than what some of the search results suggest, particularly for Grade 6 positions.
Recruiting through this period, 245 new colleagues joined Companies House. One hundred and twenty were women, 78 of which went into AA/AO roles.
Eighty two colleagues left Companies House. Forty four of these were female and 38 male. Of our female leavers, 19 were from roles in the AA/AO grade.
Table 5: Entrants and leavers by grade
| Grade | Men entrants | Women entrants | Men leavers | Women leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 62 | 78 | 15 | 19 |
| EO | 23 | 13 | 9 | 11 |
| HEO/SEO | 37 | 25 | 11 | 11 |
| Grade 7/6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| SCS | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 125 | 120 | 38 | 44 |
4.3 Outreach
Most of our outreach activities are focused on candidates in general and are not gender specific. However, our Digital directorate have partnered with Careers Wales who coordinate talks about women working in IT, computer science and software.
Some schools have a low number of female pupils taking GCSE Computer Science and have asked for female role models working in the sector to talk to Year 9 female pupils about their careers. We collaborated with external organisations to deliver these sessions. As a result, the schools saw an increase of girls taking up Computer Science GCSEs following the events.
5. Analysis of bonus gap
We have 2 reward and recognition ‘bonus’ schemes, called Instant Award and Impact Awards.
The following charts show a 7% increase of women receiving a bonus between 2023 and 2024, from 38% to 45%. This is a significant statistic that highlights our emphasis on reward and recognition as a key component to encouraging staff to thrive.
Table 6: Gender distribution of bonuses 2023 and 2024
| Women with bonus | Women without bonus | Men with bonus | Men without bonus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 38% | 62% | 42% | 58% |
| 2024 | 45% | 55% | 43% | 57% |
Over the last 3 years, our bonus pay gap has decreased. This could be attributed to how women are being recognised for their achievements, through activities such as International Women’s Day.
Table 7: Improvement to bonus pay gap over 3 years
| 2023 to 2024 | 2022 to 2023 | 2021 to 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus pay gap mean | 2.2% | 9% | -2.4% |
| Bonus pay gap median | 0% | 0% | 5.5% |
6. Closing the gap
We remain committed to doing as much as we can to narrow and close our gender pay gap. Over the last few years, we’ve continued to introduce and build on our positive actions and initiatives that will help us to move us closer to our overarching goal of creating a ‘culture that enables our brilliant people to flourish and drives high performance’.
Here are some of the positive actions we’ve taken to help close the gap.
6.1 EDI steering group
Entering its third year, our EDI steering group continues to progress the EDI agenda from a corporate perspective. The group has representation across all directorates, people networks and trade union colleagues.
Here’s how the group has progressed against its 4 key areas of focus for 2023.
Equality Impact Assessments (EQIA)
We have successfully raised the profile of assessments within the organisation to meet our statutory requirement, as per the Equality Act 2010. This has meant that we have successfully completed EQIAs for significant projects such as the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE) as well as Companies House transformation programme (2023 to 2025) and identity verification, as well as our Edinburgh and Belfast office moves.
Gender pay gap action plan
The group was established to focus on key data to determine actions to addressing our gender pay gap. The working group also looked at the ‘employee journey’ to review our internal recruitment campaigns and looking at the gender split as well as succession planning and perceived barriers.
Disability pay gap report
Although we do not have a statutory requirement to do so, we have produced an internal report to look at our disability pay gap report. We’ve provided this as evidence to support our submission to continue to be a level 3 Disability Confident Leader. We were successful in our submission and have retained this status.
Reverse mentoring
Following on from our successful pilot with our executive board, we have completed cohort 1 of this programme. We have received very helpful feedback from mentors and mentees. A report of findings has been produced and we are currently reviewing the approach to take for cohort 2. The programme included 4 men and 8 women mentoring 5 men and 7 women from our corporate leadership team and executive board.
6.2 EDI campaigns
Building strong external campaigns to showcase our inclusive culture is helping to draw in the diverse talent that we need to achieve our strategy. Our campaign content has attracted over 2 million impressions, 17,914 engagements and 16,211 click-throughs across our social media channels.
Engagement of external EDI recruitment campaigns
Campaign video: 415,310 views.
Increase in traffic to the ‘Working for Companies House’ GOV.UK page in the last quarter of the financial year compared with the previous 3 months: 535%.
Engaged partners who shared campaign content in social networking groups: 88, resulting in 5,116 extra impressions.
Email newsletters: 6, generating 8,369 click-throughs to campaign content.
Social media posts: 147, which received:
- 3,966,939 impressions
- 103,391 engagements
- 21,876 link clicks
EDI strategy and news story: over 3,000 page views.
Internal blog posts: 2, which received:
- 839 page views
- 37 comments
- 117 engagements
External blog posts: 9, receiving over 2,255 page views.
Staff involvement:
- 10 colleagues wrote blogs
- 5 colleagues featured in our video
- 26 colleagues featured in 80 creative assets
6.3 International Women’s Day
This year we embraced the theme ‘inspire inclusion’. We co-ordinated activities with colleagues from across Companies House. We invited them to nominate others who they felt embodied the theme of ‘inspire inclusion’. We received 53 nominations - many shared their experience through blogs, photobooks and attending an in person event hosted by our People Director on 7 March.
Our EDI champion and Financial Director also wrote a blog reflecting on our gender pay gap.
6.4 Women’s network
Following the successful International Women’s Day campaign, our women’s network relaunched with a female sponsor from our executive board.
The network established a core steering group of female colleagues from across all directorates and a range of grades. The new chair of the network is an active member of the EDI steering group and highlights key issues and priorities for women in the workplace. Membership to date has grown to over 18% of female colleagues.
The network’s plans are to continue to increase membership and collaborate with colleagues from other networks on matters including education, training and raising awareness of key issues affecting women in the workplace.
6.5 The menopause network
Our menopause network aims to support those affected by menopause. It gives awareness training and support for colleagues and managers. It also responds to feedback from the menopause questions in our annual People Survey - 275 women responded they experience menopause symptoms in 2024.
As of 31 March 2024, the network had 37 members.
This year, the menopause network:
- celebrated World Menopause Day with an external GP specialising in menopause related topics
- presented a webinar on cardiovascular disease and menopause, produced a factsheet and displayed posters in the office on menopause and cardiovascular disease
- shared details of free menopause webinars and other menopause resources
- provided menopause network meetings offering a safe space to talk and give advice
- held a session on how the Workplace Adjustment Passport can support members - 4% more women with menopause responded they have this passport in the People Survey 2024
In the future, the menopause network plans to engage with other networks to raise awareness of menopause in the workplace. The network also plans to review the results of the menopause questions in the People Survey to identify improvements in supporting colleagues affected by menopause.
6.6 Working families network
The group is an active network of over 160 members involved in several activities designed to help colleagues with the demands of being a working parent.
As a result of their support, colleagues’ lives are positively impacted, ensuring people are in the best position to carry out their work duties and helping us to recruit and retain colleagues who are working parents.
Some areas of support given by members of the network this year include:
- exam stress and revision techniques - discussing strategies on how to help colleagues support their children through the exam period
- suggestions for days out and holiday based activities, to reduce stress levels of planning activities and to highlight money saving activities
- support for International Women’s Day – including encouraging network members to attend an event and a network member speaking as an International Women’s Day panellist for an organisation-wide event
- sharing training and webinars to support professional development and support family learning
- children’s competitions, to encourage members to have a work life balance and bring their whole selves to work
- financial hints and tips
- wellbeing network check-ins
- holiday play care schemes, making sure Companies House continues to offer its support to working parents during school holidays by continuing to contribute to the cost of childcare provision during the Easter and summer holiday period
6.7 Feedback from our 2024 People Survey
The 2024 people Survey continues to be an effective means to gauge how colleagues fare in relation to experiences within the workforce by sharing feedback across a plethora of personal as well as developmental aspects.
We continue to use this data across teams, directorates and networks to help shape our activities and areas of focus for the upcoming year. By taking an evidence-based approach, we can address areas of concern and see positive outcomes via the numbers recorded in the next People Survey.
Table 8: 2024 People Survey results
| Women | Men | Women at AO and EO grade | Men at AO and EO grade | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 score | Change from 2023 | 2024 score | Change from 2023 | 2024 score | Change from 2023 | 2024 score | Change from 2023 | |
| Number of respondents | 652 | +137 | 524 | +95 | 302 | +95 | 259 | +38 |
| Overall engagement | 72% | +1% | 69% | +3% | 71% | +1% | 67% | +1% |
| Question/theme | ||||||||
| My manager is considerate of my life outside work | 92% | +3% | 92% | +4% | 91% | +2% | 89% | +1% |
| I am able to access the right learning and development opportunities when I need to | 74% | +2% | 73% | +9% | 74% | 0% | 74% | +7% |
| There are opportunities for me to develop my career in my organisation | 74% | +9% | 71% | +12% | 79% | +7% | 71% | +10% |
| Learning and development activities I have completed while working for my organisation are helping me to develop my career | 57% | +3% | 58% | +7% | 52% | 0% | 60% | +3% |
| Inclusion and fair treatment (theme) | 87% | +1% | 88% | +1% | 87% | +1% | 86% | +0% |
| Pay and benefits (theme) | 35% | +1% | 32% | +3% | 30% | +2% | 31% | +3% |
| I am satisfied with the total benefits package | 46% | -6% | 41% | +2% | 42% | -5% | 42% | +4% |
| I am fully aware of the benefits available in my organisation, in addition to pay | 82% | -2% | 75% | -3% | 81% | -3% | 73% | +3% |
| I feel supported by my manager to balance my work and caring responsibilities | 82% | -1% | 85% | +5% | 80% | -7% | 80% | +5% |
Overall, returns have increased significantly from female staff for 2024, with a slight increase in engagement levels.
There has been a substantial increase in women feeling they have opportunities to develop their career in Companies House. Respondents have fed back that their manager is considerate to life outside of work. However, there is a decline in colleagues feeling supported by their manager to balance work and caring responsibilities.
Further investigative work is needed here to establish the causes for the decline in positive responses and the potential impact that could have in relation to accessing personal development opportunities.
7. What we plan to do
In response to our figures and with the aim of gathering further insight, we intend to develop a comprehensive strategy that addresses the root causes of the gender pay gap and fosters long-term equity. We will also be focusing on the longer term goal of diversity and inclusion in our reporting.
Here’s what this will include.
Building on our data
We’ll build on our data to expand on our current reporting. We will look to include additional information such as working patterns, professions, new starters and leavers data to provide a richer picture.
Collaborating with our EDI networks
We’ll collaborate to gather data and establish personas of colleagues across all genders to validate our assumptions. We’ll offer support and guidance on career progression and give a safe space to discuss struggles and experiences.
Reforming our gender pay gap action plan working group
We’ll look to understand potential reasons for colleagues not looking for promotion and explore actions that focus on AO and EO grades to ensure equitable opportunities are available across all genders.
Targeted campaigns
We’ll use data to inform our approach to campaigns centred on:
- raising awareness of capabilities
- building self-confidence
- inspiring career progression
- promoting long-term equity in the organisation
Reintroduce the reverse mentoring programme
We’ll reintroduce this programme for senior leaders to be mentored by junior employees from diverse backgrounds. This initiative aims to:
- facilitate open dialogues
- address biases
- promote equitable representation in leadership roles