W. H. Bowker Limited (trading as Bowker Transport) is a leading logistics company providing the complete range of transport and warehousing services from our strategically located operating centres at Preston, Hull, Droitwich, Knowsley, Ripon, York and Selby. We are proud to be renowned by our customers and peers for our professional approach and total commitment in providing responsible, secure and reliable transportation services, which have been recognised by the accreditations and industry awards the Company has received.
This is the sixth year Bowker Transport has reported its gender pay gap under the Government’s Gender Pay Gap (G.P.G.) Reporting legislation. For the purposes of this report and in line with the published guidelines, our headcount is based on a data snapshot as at 5th April 2022 for a total of 334 full paid relevant employees, compared with 347 last year.
The transport and warehousing sector has historically been comprised of a high proportion of male workers, especially in the areas of HGV driving and warehouse operations which account for 75% of our total workforce. However, we are proud of our track record of recruiting and retaining good quality female staff in our office based and middle management roles where women make up 43% of the staff in these areas.
The key calculations which we are required to report are as follows :
Mean Gender Pay Gap 17.0% Median Gender Pay Gap 6.3%
These figures show that women’s hourly rate of pay is 17.0% lower than male colleagues and when looking at the median hourly rate women are paid 6.3% less than men. These figures represent a slight widening of the gender pay gaps compared to last year. This is partly due to our decision to increase the size of our vehicle fleet and hence the number of HGV drivers who are predominately men. The figures this year are also distorted as the Company decided to award an additional pay rise to the HGV and warehouse staff in the summer of 2021 to counteract the difficulties in attracting new staff and retaining the current workforce due to labour shortages in the market. This was in addition to the normal wage increase award in January 2022. Again, the staff in these areas are predominately men.
Mean Bonus Gender Pay Gap 38.8% Median Bonus Gender Pay Gap -74.1%
These figures show that women’s mean bonus pay is 38.8% lower than their male colleagues this year, a narrowing of the gap compared to last years report which showed a figure 47.0% in favour of men. We consider this to be largely caused by bonus payments made to General Managers/senior staff who are predominately men. However, this is partly counteracted as 50.0% of our female staff receive a bonus payment compared to 45.3% of their male counterparts. The median bonus gender pay gap shows in favour of women this year which has widened from 31.0% in favour of women last year.
Proportion Receiving A Bonus Payment : Female 50.0% Male 45.3%
These figures show that 50.0% of our female staff received a bonus during the year to 5th April 2022 compared to 45.3% of male employees. These figures represent a dilution of the gap compared to last year although this is now the sixth year in a row that our female colleagues are more likely to be employed in roles that attract a bonus.
PAY QUARTILES :
Lower Quartile : Male 72.6% Female 27.4%
Lower Middle Quartile : Male 77.6% Female 22.4%
Upper Middle Quartile : Male 90.9% Female 9.1%
Upper Quartile : Male 84.5% Female 15.5%
These figures show how many men and women are in each quarter of the payroll. In each quartile, the disposition of the workforce is largely male, which is consistent with the gender disparity across the logistics industry.
We, at Bowker Transport, are committed to ensuring employees in similar roles are paid equitably and we are also committed to narrowing the gender pay gap. We continue to encourage female colleagues to enter into the industry by offering competitive salaries, bonuses and flexible working wherever possible, and also recognise the achievements of our female staff in the success of our Company.
I can confirm that the data contained in this report is accurate and published in accordance with the Gender Pay Gap Reporting guidance and legislation.
Christopher Kay
Finance Director