An introduction from our Chief People Officer
“At Zenith, we’re proud to be building a culture with inclusion everywhere – every team, every level, everywhere. However, to nurture an inclusive culture, we have to drive a change in our diversity, otherwise we’re not changing the makeup of the colleague population and representing the customers and communities that we serve, which is our goal.
Our People Promise outlines how we’ll continue to invest in our colleagues and be the first choice in the industry for colleagues to develop their careers to ensure we go the extra mile for both our customers and colleagues.
Our award-winning inclusion programme has been a phenomenal journey over the last few years, with plenty of progress made, which you can learn more about below.
Being able to track our progress in this area is key and while gender pay gap reporting is imperative, at Zenith we also have our census, which more than 90% of our colleagues have taken part in, sharing their data with us so we can proactively measure how we’re doing against our diversity and inclusion commitments. This is a great level of engagement and demonstrates our commitment to make our workplace more reflective of the world we live and work in.”
The shape of our workforce
1,461
colleagues
38%
female colleagues
34.2%
of our senior leadership are women
What is Gender Pay Gap reporting?
Gender pay gap reporting requires legal entities with more than 250 colleagues to report and publish their pay gap between males and females.
Zenith Group has a number of employing legal entities. Of these, for the gender pay reporting period 2024, three have more than 250 employees – Zenith Vehicle Contracts Limited, CVFS, and CVL, so are legally reportable.
In the interests of clarity and transparency, we have provided a voluntary aggregated figure which covers the whole of the Zenith Group. We believe this is consistent with the spirit of the Gender Pay Gap reporting legislation whilst still complying with our reporting obligations and, looking at the data in this way supports our aim to reduce the pay gap across all areas of our Group.
The focus of this report is on Zenith Group, however figures for the individual reportable entities can be found in the appendices.
It should be noted that the Gender Pay Gap differs from equal pay. Equal pay is about ensuring employees are paid the same for same or similar work, irrespective of someone’s background. A gender pay gap can exist even though pay is equal for same or similar roles. This is usually caused by the gender profile of the workforce.
Zenith’s 2024 Gender Pay Gap
(Zenith Group combined)
This year we’ve seen a slight increase in our gender pay gap, primarily due to the 18% growth of our mobile service unit (MSU) population. Maintenance has traditionally been a male-dominated market, and while the proportion of female colleagues within our Commercial division is 6.7% higher than the Automotive industry average (25.7% Vs 19%*), we know there is still more to do to attract more females to the profession. Due to the MSU population accounting for 18% of our overall headcount if we calculate the median pay gap without this population, it more than halves to 7.67%.
*May 2024 figures
Mean and median pay gaps
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) gender pay gap | 12.78% | 10.97% | 15% | 20.7% |
| Median gender pay gap | 16.56% | 15.97% | 18.41% | 14.1% |
Zenith’s 2024 Gender Bonus Gap
(Zenith Group combined) Our difference in bonus pay gap can be attributed to the distribution of males vs females in the upper quartile (68%M vs. 32%F) compared to our lower quartile (55%M vs. 45%F) and having a scaled bonus structure in place, where more senior roles have a greater bonus earning potential. In the qualifying bonus period, 20% more females received a bonus than males (an increase of 15% from the previous year). As females are more proportionally represented in our lower quartiles, this also has an impact on the overall pay gap figures.
Percentage of colleagues receiving a bonus
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 54.48% | 46.06% | 44.9% | 44.6% |
| Female | 74.69% | 62.14% | 55% | 60.4% |
Mean and median bonus gaps
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) bonus pay gap | 44.29% | 58.4% | 61% | 55.4% |
| Median bonus pay gap | 24.0% | 2.27% | 16.9% | 0% |
Closing the gap
At Zenith, our mission is to ensure we value the difference in our colleagues and reflect the customers and communities we serve. Since launching our People Promise in 2021, we have implemented a number of initiatives to help build a more diverse and inclusive workplace for everyone, at each stage in their career such as:
- We operate an ‘Agile’ working policy which allows colleagues to take advantage of the measurable benefits of both office and remote / home working.
- We have six ED&I focus groups, open to all colleagues, to help raise awareness and drive change.
- 66% of our current leaders have completed our immersive workshop on building an inclusive culture.
- 54% of our people managers have undertaken our recruitment training programme which incorporates Unconscious Bias and focuses on behaviours that support a role, allowing us to consider a broader talent pool.
- We have a dedicated Menopause support group and cover the cost of all menopause-related prescriptions for colleagues.
- We are a member of the Automotive 30% Club and actively participate in their conferences, networking events, and support promoting and developing women in our industry.
- We have a parents’ network that meets regularly in our on-site café, allowing parents to attend and talk with fellow colleagues on balancing a career and family.
- We focus on colleague wellbeing with a growing population of mental health first aiders, free massages, and providing all colleagues with access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) –
- A free-to-use 24-hour helpline. We also have an on-site GP, offering free face-to-face or remote consultations including fit notes and prescriptions alongside a range of health-related voluntary benefits.
