MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GENDER PAY REPORT 2017
Foreword Understanding the gender pay gap Gender pay at Merlin Reducing the gap Statutory disclosures 02 FOREWORD Natalie Bickford Group Human Resources Director Offering an inclusive working environment where difference is valued and celebrated is an important part of our business strategy and is consistent with our values. While we operate in the visitor attraction and entertainment sector, we employ many people in roles that have been traditionally dominated by men such as engineering. This has an effect on our gender pay gap along with the larger proportion of men in senior leadership roles. In recent years we have worked hard to achieve a more balanced workforce and better female representation across occupational fields. This is being achieved through better candidate shortlisting, management training and specific skills development, and the creation of initiatives such as Women@Merlin; a company-wide programme which gives women the support and opportunities they need to achieve their ambitions and develop into senior roles. At Board level, four of our nine Board members are female. We re pleased that the representation of women on the company s Board is recognised in the 2017 Hampton Alexander Review with Merlin ranking 6th overall. We know we still have work to do to bridge the pay gap, but we are on our way to embedding a culture of inclusivity across the business that is mindful of unconscious bias, open to different thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and celebrates the diversity of our people.
Foreword Understanding the gender pay gap Gender pay at Merlin Reducing the gap Statutory disclosures 03 UNDERSTANDING THE GENDER PAY GAP UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIAN The gender pay gap figures in this report show the average difference in pay between men and women using various statistics. It takes into account all jobs, at all levels and all salaries within the organisation. This is distinct to equal pay which is when men and women receive the same pay for the same or similar jobs. UNDERSTANDING THE MEAN The mean gender pay gap is calculated by adding together all the hourly pay rates for full-pay relevant employees and dividing this figure by the number of employees. This is calculated separately for both male and female employees. The difference between the male and female figure is then given as a percentage of the men s mean hourly pay rate. The mean gender pay gap The median gender pay gap is calculated by arranging all the hourly pay rates of full-pay relevant employees from highest to lowest and then finding the hourly pay rate that is in the middle of the range. Again this is calculated separately for male and female employees. The difference between the male and female figure is then given as a percentage of the men s median hourly pay rate. The median Average paid female Average paid male Lowest earners Highest earners
Foreword Understanding the gender pay gap Gender pay at Merlin Reducing the gap Statutory disclosures 04 GENDER PAY AT MERLIN Merlin is the UK s leading location-based entertainment company employing 8,227 people within its business operations in the UK*. These roles are across its attractions, support functions and global headquarters. MEAN GENDER PAY GAP: 16.55% The headline mean gender pay gap of 16.55%, which is below the UK average of 17.4% (source: ONS). MEDIAN GENDER PAY GAP: GENDER SPLIT PER QUARTILE PAY BAND: The following graphics sets out a summary of the total gender pay gap data for all our employees across the UK as at the snapshot date of 5 April 2017. Analysis of the two legal entities that employ more than 250 employees and so require separate disclosure is set out in the statutory disclosures at the end of this report. Upper Quartile Women Men Upper Middle Quartile * As at 5 April 2017 2.60% 42.30% 46.57% 57.70% 53.43% Gender split at Merlin The key reasons behind our gender pay gap are: lower numbers of female representation in senior, higher paid roles (which also impacts on the gap in bonus pay) Lower Middle Quartile Lower Quartile 52% 48% relatively large populations of employees in male dominated roles e.g. engineering and electricians, and 46.91% 53.09% 42.73% 57.27% a large proportion of females taking up roles with greater flexibility in working hours such as housekeepers.
Foreword Understanding the gender pay gap Gender pay at Merlin Reducing the gap Statutory disclosures 05 GENDER PAY AT MERLIN GENDER PAY GAP IN BONUS PAY: ORGANISATIONS CAN ACHIEVE MORE THROUGH GREATER DIVERSITY OF EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES, AND A BETTER REPRESENTATION OF THE COMMUNITIES IT SERVES. The mean gender pay gap in bonus pay is calculated by adding together the bonus payments made to all relevant employees in the 12 months leading up to 5 April 2017 and dividing this by the number of relevant employees. This calculation is done for both male and female employees and then the difference is stated as a percentage of the mean bonus amount for men. Difference in Mean bonus pay: 59.12% Difference in Median bonus pay: Anne-Françoise Nesmes Chief Financial Officer We are striving to increase our female representation at both Board and Senior Management level. The last four appointments to the Board have been female so that women currently comprise 44.4% of our Board. As a result Merlin was ranked 6th in the 2017 Hampton Alexander Review of FTSE 100 for Women on Boards and in Leadership. This focus from the top in hand with our Women@Merlin programme and our approach to flexible working to support the drive to both promote and hire an increased proportion of women into senior positions. Hampton Alexander Review ranking 6th 44.4% Women 55.6% Men Merlin s mean gender bonus gap of 59.1% is heavily skewed by the share awards given under the Performance Share Plan incentive programme which form part of the remuneration packages of some senior management, of which men form the majority. The vesting of these awards is conditional upon performance and is restricted from exercising for three years. The mean gender pay gap can be segmented further into its constituent parts of Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) payments which constitute a mean gender pay gap of 52.19% and profit related bonuses which has a mean gender pay gap of 8.8%. 9.41% Proportion of men/women who received bonus pay: 20% 15% 15.71% 13.43% 10% 5% Women Men
Foreword Understanding the gender pay gap Gender pay at Merlin Reducing the gap Statutory disclosures 06 REDUCING THE GAP We re proud of the inclusive environment we create for all the people who work at Merlin and focus significant effort in driving a culture of accountability and fairness. It s part of who we are and we adopt a number of approaches to attract and retain a diverse talent base, representative of the communities in which we operate. We know there is more we can do to encourage and promote more females into senior roles and, where possible, help influence change in the labour market to encourage greater participation in less female populated occupations. Steps being taken to improve gender diversity: We continue to drive and expand our Women@Merlin community which gives women the support and opportunities they need to achieve their ambitions and develop into senior roles We require balanced shortlists for all management vacancies and work with our recruiters and agencies to ensure we achieve this We regularly conduct talent reviews to ensure we recognise and develop potential and regularly celebrate great achievements to increase the visibility of talent across the business We have introduced our Managing Inclusively programme to support recruiters and line managers in hiring and managing inclusively, and draw awareness to unconscious bias in the workplace and recruitment process We encourage flexible working and specifically encourage women to return to work following maternity leave and consider part time and job-share possibilities wherever practical. This is assisted now by our parental leave policy which offers a benefit to both parents in line with maternity leave. Calling all female engineers It is true that Merlin needs more female engineers. I lead a department that is fantastically rich and diverse in terms of background and experience, but is predominantly made up of men. This is not a phenomenon specific to Merlin however, but reflective of the lack of female engineers in the labour market. Having so few women engineers means the profession is missing out on half the potential talent available. But the landscape is slowly changing. The misperception of engineering being a dirty, labour intensive, manual job is being dispelled by better education, greater diversity of available jobs and more encouragement to apply for roles. We re doing our part by spearheading a new UK apprenticeship standard specific to our industry, which over time I hope will lead to more women joining the engineering team here at Merlin and within the broader leisure industry. Dawn Childs, Group Engineering Director Non-Executive Director Fru Hazlitt addressing Women@Merlin event Inspiring the next generation of women leaders At Merlin we continue to drive and expand our Women@Merlin community which gives women the support and opportunities they need to achieve their ambitions and develop into senior roles. We recently held a Women@Merlin event for 100 employees from around the UK to demonstrate our commitment and sponsorship for female talent development, through an engaging and interactive development day. See more at Institute of Apprenticeships https://apprenticeships.blog.gov.uk/2018/01/25/ interview-with-dawn-childs/
Foreword Understanding the gender pay gap Gender pay at Merlin Reducing the gap Statutory disclosures 07 STATUTORY DISCLOSURES The UK Government s Gender Pay Gap regulation requires companies in the UK with over 250 employees to disclose their gender pay gap annually. We had two legal entities with over 250 employees in the UK Merlin Entertainments (Sea Life) Limited and Merlin Attractions Operations Limited at the snapshot date of 5 April 2017. Our gender pay data for each entity is set out on this page. Merlin Entertainments (Sea Life) Limited: The difference between men and women Mean (Average) Median (Middle) Gender Pay Gap 11.38% 4.77% Gender Bonus Gap 37.58% 11.82% Proportion of women who received bonus pay in the relevant period Number of men who received bonus pay in the relevant period 13.95% 18.61% Merlin Attractions Operations Limited: The difference between men and women Mean (Average) Median (Middle) Gender Pay Gap 14.64% 2.72% Gender Bonus Gap 17.93% 14.53% Proportion of women who received bonus pay in the relevant period Number of men who received bonus pay in the relevant period 8.25% 14.53% Declaration We confirm the information and data reported is accurate as at 5 April 2017. Number of men and women in the quartile pay bands: Women Men Upper 49.18% 50.82% Upper Middle 57.72% 42.28% Lower Middle 59.02% 40.98% Lower 63.41% 36.59% Number of men and women in the quartile pay bands: Women Men Upper 39.05% 60.95% Upper Middle 50.66% 49.34% Lower Middle 54.62% 45.38% Lower 57.19% 42.81% Nick Varney Chief Executive Officer Natalie Bickford Group Human Resources Director