UK businesswomen unite behind #MeTooPay initiative

100 of Britain’s leading businesswomen have spoken with one voice in their desire to achieve pay parity with their male colleagues by launching a #MeTooPay initiative as a spin-off of the #MeToo initiative to call out sexual harassment.

Among those to put their names to the equal pay drive, led by former Royal Mail chief Dame Moya Greene, are GlaxoSmithKline boss Emma Walmsley and Dame Minouche Shafik, a widely tipped possible future governor of the Bank of England.

In a statement, the group wrote: “We’re a group of women who have played leadership roles in some of the UK’s biggest organisations. We’re proud to have played a small part in building a society where more women have a voice at the top table.

“But we’re frustrated to still read stories about women not getting the pay they deserve. Women should not be paid less than men to do the same job. It’s just wrong. So we’re starting a campaign to do something about it.”

The group was born out of the case of BNP Paribas employee Stacey Macken who was found to earn 25% less than a male colleague and received a first-year bonus payment of under half despite both receiving equal performance grades.

This follows publication of a report by The Drum indicating that the gender pay gap has widened at more than half of UK ad agencies, with the industry broadly failing to translate a public parity push into equality on the ground.