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Overview

Since 2020 all quoted public companies with more than 250 UK employees have had to provide pay ratios between their highest earner and pay at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile of their UK workforce. This measure was brought in by the Conservative government with the aim of providing greater transparency on pay. These reports analyse the new pay ratio disclosures.

Key highlights

The report shows that CEO to employee pay gaps at Britain’s biggest companies remained stable in 2022 after narrowing during the Covid pandemic and then widening again in 2021. The median CEO/median employee pay ratio across the FTSE 350 was 57:1 in 2022, slightly up from 56:1 in 2021. The median gap between CEOs and their lowest-paid quarter of employees fell slightly in 2022 to 75:1 from 78:1 in 2021. Across the larger FTSE 100 companies, the gaps were wider, with a median CEO/median employee pay ratio of 80:1 and a median CEO/lower quarter employee of 118:1. It found:

  • The median CEO/median employee pay ratio across the FTSE 350 was 57:1 in 2022, slightly up from 56:1 in 2021. 2022 saw a slight decrease in the median CEO/lower quartile (25th percentile) employee pay ratio for the FTSE 350, at 75:1 compared to 78:1 in 2021.
  • In the FTSE 100, the median CEO/median employee ratio was 80:1 and the median CEO/lower quartile employee ratio was 119:1 (83:1 and 111:1 in 2021)
  • In 2022, 21% of FTSE 350 companies had a CEO/median employee ratio of over 100:1, compared to 20% in 2021.
  • The companies with lowest-paid UK employees (based on pay at the 25th percentile) were retailer JD Sports, where the lower quartile threshold was £11,240, pub chain Mitchells & Butlers (£15,161) and retailer WH Smiths (£18,850)