Gender pay gap improves across Diageo GB and Diageo Scotland

• Diageo Great Britain and Diageo Scotland combined median pay gap of +4% (2018: +5.4%)
• Diageo Great Britain median pay gap of -14.8% (2018: -12.6%)
• Diageo Scotland median pay gap of +16.4% (2018: +18%)

Today, we publish our third gender pay report showing an improvement in the median gender pay gap across our combined legal entities in Great Britain and Scotland as well as, individually, in each business. At 4%, our combined median pay gap is also lower than the ONS reported national average median pay gap of +17.3%.

In Scotland, where the vast majority of roles are in our 24/7 manufacturing business, our median hourly pay gap improved to +16.4%, reflecting increased female representation across more senior roles. During the period, 60% of promotions, 64% of middle management hires, 55% of graduate and 100% of director level hires were women.

The median pay gap in Scotland continues to be impacted by the lower number of women who opt for shift allowances for unsociable hours, in line with long-term trends in manufacturing roles traditionally filled by men.  Currently, three times more men take on shifts attracting these allowances.  We are working hard to improve the gender balance of roles across our Scotland business, including through a number of education and internship initiatives. Having launched our science, technology, engineering and manufacturing (STEM) scholarships in brewing and distilling last year, there are now two female students enrolled at Heriot-Watt University and we are currently recruiting next year’s intake.

In our Great Britain business, the higher median hourly rate for women continues to be driven by more junior level roles in field sales and manufacturing being filled predominantly by men, whilst office based roles, which are typically higher paid, are filled by women. The further improvement this year is due to an increase in representation of women at middle and more senior levels in the business.  We continue to work on our recruitment practice to ensure we are attracting more diverse candidates across the business.

At the beginning of April, we introduced 26 weeks paid parental leave for all UK employees regardless of gender, to create true gender equality of opportunity in the workforce for all those looking to raise a family. In May, ambitious new parental leave policies were rolled out to our global markets, ensuring minimum standards for both men and women.

Globally, in 2019 we exceeded our 2020 target of 35% of global senior leadership roles being filled by women and we continue to make progress towards our target of 40% by 2025. Also this year, female representation on our Board increased to 44%. In November, Diageo was ranked 6^th in the 2019 Hampton Alexander review for women on Boards, 2^nd in the Refinitiv(formerly Thomson Reuters) Global Diversity and Inclusion Index and 1^st globally for gender equality by Equileap.

Mairead Nayager, Chief HR Officer, commented:

“The diversity of our workforce is key to our business success. While there is more work to do, I’m proud of the progress we are making to reduce our gender pay gap in the UK. Our combined median pay gap has more than halved since we began reporting, reaching +4% this year, which shows that the actions we are taking are having an impact.”

To review Diageo’s Gender Pay Report visit here.

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO).

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