“The direction we’re heading in gives us confidence”- Southdown’s Gender Pay Gap Report 2025 shows progress

Posted on 11 September 2025

We are pleased to release our 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report, which highlights the progress we’re making towards pay equity, representation, and fairness in reward at Southdown.

This year, we’ve reached a significant milestone by achieving median pay parity and maintaining equity in bonus distribution. In this context, “bonus” refers to long service awards and ‘introduce a friend’ recruitment incentives, as required under gender pay gap reporting regulations. Southdown does not operate a formal bonus scheme. These results are especially encouraging as they come during a period of major organisational change, including a full Job Evaluation process and updates to our pay structure.

The report also shows that, while Southdown’s mean pay gap currently stands at 5.58% in favour of men, this reflects wider sector trends. The gap is most pronounced in the most senior roles, where men currently hold most positions. Tackling this remains a key priority.

Our commitments going forward

To build on this year’s progress, we are focusing on:

• Improving gender balance in leadership through development and succession planning.
• Supporting career progression for part-time staff, ensuring there are flexible pathways to senior roles.
• Monitoring the impact of structural changes to ensure continued equity across all grades and working patterns.
• Ensuring transparency and fairness in recruitment, reward, and progression practices.

We have already taken practical steps to support these commitments. For example, our pay scales are transparent, fairly applied regardless of gender, and openly advertised, with consistent starting salaries for men and women in comparable roles. We’ve also introduced an anonymised recruitment system to reduce unintentional bias, with candidate details hidden at the initial selection stage.

A message from our Head of People and Experience

Eve Clennell said:

“At Southdown, fairness, transparency, and inclusion aren’t just words, they’re principles we live by every day. Our 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report gives us a moment to celebrate progress, reflect honestly, and think about where we can do even better.

This year, we’ve hit a milestone: median pay parity and equity in bonus distribution. That’s a big achievement, especially as we’ve gone through significant organisational changes. Of course, the journey isn’t over – our mean pay gap shows there’s still work to do, particularly when it comes to senior representation and flexible working patterns. But the foundations are strong, and the direction we’re heading in gives us confidence.”

Looking ahead

We remain committed to creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, regardless of gender, role, or working pattern. Southdown is proud to be part of a sector that leads in gender pay equity, and we will continue to champion fairness and inclusion in everything we do.

Read the full 2025 Gender Pay Gap Report: