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Gender Pay Gap report: 2023 – 2024
We’re pleased to share finova’s first Gender Pay Gap (GPG) report – a significant milestone in our continued commitment to building a thriving, high-performing business where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
finova has experienced exceptional growth and transformation over the last 18 months. We’ve gone from a business of fewer than 200 people to one that now employs over 500 talented individuals across the UK and internationally. This success reflects the strength of our evolving culture – one that celebrates talent, drives innovation, and embraces inclusivity as a core part of who we are.
As this is our first year of reporting, it’s important to acknowledge that our data for the period reflects a business in the early stages of maturing its people and reward practices. During the reporting period, finova was still relatively small and, like many growing companies, operated with evolving compensation frameworks – with bonus and commission plans tailored to a few key roles during our early growth journey.
It’s also worth noting that our workforce is geographically diverse, which reflects in our numbers for the period. A third of our employees are based outside of the UK (and not included in this report), and a further third are located in regional hubs in Manchester and Bristol. Our head office and senior leadership team, however, is based in London – a higher-paying region – which has had a natural impact on the data.
We’re encouraged that our median hourly pay gap stands 8% below the fintech industry average – a strong foundation as we begin our journey of formal reporting. While our median bonus gap highlights areas for improvement, it reflects an earlier stage in our evolution, where incentives were limited to a small number of roles.
Looking ahead, we’re focused on continuing to develop more structured and transparent reward practices that align with our growth, values, and ambitions. We’re committed to creating even more opportunities for everyone at finova – and continuing to evolve the inclusive, ambitious, and supportive culture that has powered our success so far.
This report marks just the beginning. We’re building a company where progress is measured not only by commercial performance, but by the experience and opportunity we offer every individual who joins us. I confirm that the information contained in this report is accurate.
Richard Bolger
Chief Human Resources Officer at finova
Understanding the pay gap
What is the gender pay gap?
In April 2017, the UK introduced gender pay gap reporting to highlight the difference in average hourly earnings between men and women in the workplace. This gap, expressed as a percentage of men's earnings, primarily reflects the distribution of men and women within the organisational hierarchy.
All employers with more than 250 employees are required to publish statistics related to UK employee pay. Gender pay gap reporting offers companies an opportunity to be transparent about their workforce composition and the measures they are taking to address any identified disparities.
Separately, UK Equal Pay legislation ensures that employees performing the same or similar work, or work of equal value, are paid equally. Unlike Equal Pay, gender pay gap calculations do not consider the specific roles or seniority of employees but focus on the average earnings of each gender.
Definitions
The reporting period for UK gender pay gap reporting is the 12-month period leading up to the snapshot date.
This year’s reporting period is 6th April 2023 – 5th April 2024.
The snapshot date for gender pay gap reporting in the UK is the specific date each year on which employers must base their gender pay gap calculations.
For 2024, the snapshot date for private, voluntary, and other public authority employers is 5 April 2024.
What is the data showing?
Our median hourly pay gap sits at 14%, which is 8% less than the estimated average for the fin-tech industry.1 This means that women earn 86p for every £1 earned by men.
Our median bonus pay gap sits at 97% for this period. This means that women earn 3p for every £1 earned by men.
N.B. The total bonus amount was < 34k across the reporting period, with only 7.10% of men and 6.85% of women eligible for bonus - totalling 17 employees.
These payments came from commission payments (5 individuals) and long service awards (12 employees).
- There was no structured, company-wide bonus scheme in place during the reporting period.
- Two separate commission plans were in operation: one involving four male employees and the other involving one female employee, with no direct comparators.
- No performance-related bonuses were paid to employees more broadly during this period.
At finova, women are most represented in roles within the lowest pay quartile. As pay levels increase, female representation gradually decreases, with women making up 15% of roles in the upper quartile. One of the contributing factors to this trend is the lower proportion of women currently in senior leadership positions.
Understanding the data
The gender pay gap at finova is shaped in large part by the makeup of our workforce, where approximately two-thirds of employees are male and one-third are female. This imbalance is reflected across all pay quartiles, with men more commonly found in senior roles and departments like engineering, which tend to offer higher average salaries.
As a business operating within two traditionally male-dominated sectors – financial services and technology – we recognise that progress towards gender equality can be slower. These long-standing industry dynamics create additional challenges for women advancing into higher-paid roles or departments. Contributing factors may include historical biases, limited access to networks, and fewer mentorship and support opportunities. In addition, a greater proportion of our female employees work part-time, which is typically associated with lower hourly pay.
While this is the first time we’ve undertaken a detailed analysis of the gender pay gap at finova, it represents an important step forward in increasing our understanding of the factors at play. The publication of this report marks the beginning of a broader, ongoing commitment to fostering a more inclusive and equitable workplace for all.
Key actions to address the pay gap
So far
We’ve already taken several meaningful steps to help close the gender pay gap. While many organisations are moving back to full-time office work, we continue to offer hybrid working and actively support flexible arrangements to help our people balance their work and home lives. By embracing different working styles and personal responsibilities, we aim to attract and retain a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
We’re also committed to improving diversity at the leadership level. The recent appointment of a female Non-Executive Director, along with the introduction of the Chief People Officer role - both new additions to our leadership structure - reflects our ambition to embed equity and inclusion more deeply across the business. These roles are already helping to strengthen engagement at the Executive and C-Suite levels, ensuring that gender equity remains a strategic priority.
To better support employees through key life stages, we’ve enhanced our maternity and paternity pay. We’ve also introduced a new health cash plan as part of our annual benefits review, offering cover for children at no additional cost—providing extra support for working parents.
In 2024, we refreshed our performance management process to create a clearer link between performance and reward. Pay increases and bonuses are now tied to individual contributions, with performance reviewed and calibrated at senior manager level and supported by our People team. All decisions are informed by external salary benchmarking to ensure fairness and consistency.
Going forward
Talent
At finova, we’re committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workforce. One of our key priorities is to strengthen the diversity of our recruitment efforts. This includes using a broader range of job boards, working with recruiters who are focused on inclusion, and applying best practices when shortlisting candidates.
We also recognise that we can do more to ensure our current employees are aware of opportunities. To support this, we’ll be launching a weekly internal recruitment round-up to better promote vacancies across the business.
Looking ahead, we’re focused on developing strong succession plans and talent pipelines to support long-term growth. Our approach to performance management, reward, and bonus calibration is continually reviewed through a diversity and inclusion lens, helping to ensure fairness and minimise potential bias in decision-making by people managers.
In 2025, we will complete a review of our commission structure. A key aim of this review is to make commission opportunities more accessible, particularly for female employees, by broadening the criteria through which commission can be earned.
Learning and development
At finova, we’re committed to providing meaningful learning and development opportunities for all our employees. As part of this commitment, we’ll be welcoming a new Head of Talent Management in 2025. Their focus will be to review and strengthen our current approach to training and development, ensuring we’re aligned with best practices across the industry.
One of our priorities is to introduce tailored leadership training for new managers, helping them build the confidence and capabilities needed to thrive as leaders at finova. In addition, we plan to roll out unconscious bias training to raise awareness, explore its impact, and equip our teams with practical strategies to minimise bias in everyday decision-making.
We also recognise the importance of supporting the career progression of our female employees. By investing in their development and providing the tools and skills needed to grow, we aim to support greater representation at all levels of our organisation.
Culture
We will be introducing regular employee surveys, leveraging the results to understand the needs of the workforce and progress a culture centred around inclusivity and equity.
We will continue work with our dedicated Women’s Network to ensure that they are provided with the resources and opportunity needed to enable them to influence outcomes within finova.
We are also looking to strengthen our engagement within communities and early careers to create a more gender-inclusive society for future generations. We are currently exploring partnerships with organisations and charities that focus on encouraging and educating young women to consider careers in STEM.
Data and reporting
This marks the beginning of regular reporting and analysis of gender and pay disparity within finova.
By regularly reviewing and reporting on core metrics, our leaders are encouraged to take measurable steps to address gender pay imbalance. By interrogating the data and actively identifying challenges, we can use this to inform and implement effective strategies for the year ahead.
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