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Behind the numbers – Liquid Friday’s Gender Pay Gap Report
Every year, organisations with 250 or more employees are required to publish their Gender Pay Gap data. It’s an important measure, not just of equal pay for equal work (which is a legal requirement), but of the difference in average earnings between men and women across a workforce. In short, it highlights representation, opportunity and how different roles are distributed.
By the nature of our workforce at Liquid Friday, our report goes a bit further. The data not only reflects our internal head office team, but also our umbrella workers – contractors employed by us who work via recruitment agencies for end clients. This means our figures give a unique and broader snapshot of gender pay trends across the sectors we support.
Our data
Because umbrella companies employ workers across a wide range of assignments, our Gender Pay Gap data is shaped by the industries those workers operate in.
Over 70% of our contractor workforce is engaged in sectors such as construction, engineering and rail – industries that have historically been male-dominated.
This context is key. It means our report doesn’t just reflect our own internal gender pay position, but gives a window into gender representation across parts of the UK’s flexible labour market.
Headline figures
There is positive new at the core of this year’s report:
- Median gender pay gap: 0%
- Mean gender pay gap: 0%
So, in real terms, this means women and men are paid equally for comparable work across our organisation. This is something we are proud of. It reflects a consistent and structured approach to pay, underpinned by fairness and transparency.
Representation across pay quartiles
Our data show that women are underrepresented in the highest-paid roles:
- 19.6% of the upper pay quartile are women
- 12.2% of the lower pay quartile are women
This distribution reflects the industries we operate in, where higher-paid technical and site-based roles are still predominantly held by men. It is not about unequal pay for the same work, but about who is working in which roles.
What’s driving the bonus gap?
- 100% of both men and women received bonus pay
- Median bonus gap: 12.9% (lower for women)
- Mean bonus gap: 29.8% (lower for women)
Again, this is not due to difference in entitlement. Instead, it reflects variations in assignment types, contract values and earnings patterns across different sectors. Higher- value contracts naturally influence bonus outcomes.
How do we compare nationally?
According to the UK Government’s Gender Pay Gap reporting data, the national median gender pay gap typically sits at around 13-15%% in favour of men across all sectors.
Against that backdrop, Liquid Friday’s 0% median and mean pay gap stands out as a strong result. It demonstrated that where we have direct control over pay structures, equality is being achieved.
Where differences do exist, they mirror wider gender representation trends in certain industries.
Looking ahead
Gender pay reporting is about more than equal pay alone. It also highlights how representation varies across different roles and levels.
Looking ahead, our focus is to:
- Maintain equal pay for equal work
- Better understand the drivers behind representation gaps
- Support greater diversity across the sectors we serve.
As an umbrella company operating at the heart of the UK’s contractor workforce, we have a role to play, not just in reporting gender pay trends, but in helping shape them.