2025 Pay gap report
Incorporating gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap statistics
“We’re
Claire Clarke Managing Partner, Mills & Reeve
Foreword from our managing partner
Welcome to our annual pay gap report. ‘We’re open’ is one of our recently refreshed values, and as in previous years, we’re going beyond government requirements to report on our gender pay gap to also focus on our ethnicity and disability pay gap statistics.
Publishing our various pay gaps, regardless of increase or decrease, is important to keep us accountable for improving representation across our firm. Even more importantly, it contributes to a key element of our 2030 strategy to create high performing, diverse, inclusive and collaborative teams.
This report sets out our pay gap figures using the snapshot date of April 2025, alongside an explanation of the factors that influence those figures and the actions we’re taking to address them. As you’ll read, several of our pay gaps have increased this year. We pay attention to these, know there’s always more we can do, and remain dedicated to achieving more for everyone who works at our firm.
We always look to do the right thing and ensure we pay people fairly. For example, we recently published the salary ranges for our entire lawyer pool – something highly unusual in the legal sector.
Progress we’re particularly proud of includes surpassing our 2025 target of 33% female representation at partner level two years early, it’s now over 40%, and that over the last year we’ve also formed a new senior
leadership team with more women than men. These are both indicators we’re going in the right direction to drive forward increased representation at senior levels of the firm.
Historically, this report has also incorporated case studies from our people, and wider diversity, inclusion and wellbeing updates. As our responsible business activities continue to increase year on year, we’ve published our first annual responsible business report, which includes updates on diversity, inclusion and wellbeing, that have up to this point been included in our pay gap reports.
To find out more about these activities and achievements, please take a look at our inaugural responsible business report.
We’re proud of the progress we’re making and clear about the work still to do. Our focus remains on creating high performing, inclusive and collaborative teams where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and to achieve more, together.
Claire Clarke Managing Partner, Mills & Reeve
Our approach to pay, progression and fairness
Fair reward is essential to building trust, supporting progression and sustaining long-term performance. Despite the levels of engagement we have, we’re not complacent and constantly review our processes to identify improvements.
Recruitment
We continue to review and improve our recruitment practices to ensure fairness and reduce bias at every level. We have updated our emerging talent recruitment practices significantly over the last three years to increase the diversity of the talent applying and succeeding through the process.
Progression and promotion
Progression at Mills & Reeve is based on clear, role-related criteria and assessed through structured, moderated processes. Our focus includes:
• Clear expectations at each career stage, with learning to support people’s development as their career progresses
• Consistent application of promotion criteria
• Independent and experienced promotion panels
• Strong sponsorship and support
• Transparent career structures for lawyers, business services and executive services teams
Pay and reward governance
Our reward framework is designed to support fairness, transparency and market competitiveness. Pay decisions are governed through structured processes, supported by data and experienced HR professionals to ensure consistency across the firm.
We continue to be transparent about our approach to pay, including publishing salary ranges for our lawyer population – something that remains unusual within the legal sector.
Understanding pay gap statistics
Before setting out our pay gap statistics, it’s helpful to explain why pay gaps exist within organisations, and particularly within the legal sector. Pay gap figures are different from equal pay, which relates to individuals being paid the same for the same work. Instead, pay gaps reflect broader structural factors, such as the under-representation of certain groups in higher-paid roles. In line with government reporting requirements, these figures are a snapshot taken on a single date in April each year, and need to be interpreted in that context.
Pay gap figures can change year to year due to a number of factors. These changes don’t necessarily reflect individual pay decisions, but instead how the workforce is structured at a particular point in time.
• Role distribution - where certain roles are predominantly held by one demographic group, this can affect pay gap figures. For example, across the legal sector, executive support services roles are still more likely to be held by women, while more senior roles, although improving, are more often held by men.
• Promotions – while a positive outcome in terms of career progression they can have an adverse impact on pay gap figures. For example, when we promote a principal associate into the partnership, they move from the top of our employee pay range to the lower end of the partner pay range. This can temporarily increase both the median and mean pay gaps. In recent years, we’ve promoted more women than men to partnership, which is a positive step, even though it can result in a higher reported gender pay gap.
• Changes in headcount - as a growing firm, we continue to recruit and promote people from a wide range of backgrounds. Because pay gap figures are based on a snapshot in time, changes in the size and composition of our workforce can affect the median outcome and make year on year comparisons more difficult.
• Gross pay reporting – Government pay gap reporting requirements are based on gross pay. This can be affected by factors such as part-time working, purchasing additional annual leave, or pension salary sacrifice arrangements. As the reporting rules don’t allow pay to be adjusted to net fulltime equivalent levels, these factors can influence pay gap figures.
• Partner pay gap analysis – Our partners are remunerated differently from our employees. The pay gaps reflect the number of men and women at different positions in the lockstep.
Find out more
If you’d like to find out more about how we’re looking to positively impact these factors please read our first ever responsible business report.
Gender pay gap at a glance
of women and men in each quartile (of equal size) of the payroll
Gender 2025 snapshot and progress
2025 gender pay gap
When comparing the April 2024 snapshot with April 2025, our mean gender pay gap has increased to 15.1%, up from 12.8% in 2024. Over the same period, the median gender pay gap has increased by 1.3% to 23.9%.
Understanding the gender pay gap
Our mean pay gap has increased largely due to changes in the make-up of our workforce, particularly at senior levels. Increasing gender representation at all levels of the firm remains a key priority for us. We promoted eight new partners in 2025, five women and three men.
Five partners (four men and one woman) left the partnership and continued working with us on a paid consultant basis. These colleagues are now included in our employee reporting figures, which has further influenced our mean.
The promotion of higher-paid women from the upper end of the employee pay range into the partnership, alongside higher-paid men moving out of the partnership and into the employee population, is the main reason for the increase in our mean pay gap this year.
2025 gender bonus gap
This year, our mean bonus pay gap has increased by 1.2% to 25.8%, while the median bonus pay gap has decreased by 0.7% to 3.8%. These calculations include our annual firmwide all staff bonus, which is paid to all eligible employees who were employed during the reporting period.
Understanding the gender bonus gap
More employees received a bonus in 2025 than in 2024, with an increase in both women and men. However, women continue to make up a higher proportion of part-time roles and bonuses are pro-rated for part-time working which lowers the overall average bonus received by women.
By contrast, the median bonus gap has reduced slightly. As the median reflects the midpoint it’s less affected by individual high value bonuses and more sensitive to how bonuses are distributed across the workforce.
In our partners, the mean pay gap shows little change from 2024. The median reflects changes in how our male and female partners are represented across the partnership.
In 2025, we made strong progress on female representation by promoting more women than men into the partnership. As these new partners entered the lockstep at its early stages, this has temporarily widened our median figure despite the overall improvement in representation.
Update on progress
Women are represented at scale within Mills & Reeve, making up 69.1% of our workforce and significant proportions of both our board and our operational leadership team. Over 40% of our partners are now women.
We continue to advance gender equity in the workplace. Our work this year has included focusing on creating a family-friendly workplace, enhanced family-friendly policies and highlighting the impacts of menopause.
This year, we overhauled our leave policies to support people trying to build and raise a family, now offering 26 weeks of full pay for staff taking maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
Find out more
To find out more about progress in this area please read our first ever responsible business report.
Race, ethnicity and cultural heritage 2025 snapshot and progress
2025 ethnicity pay gap
Our mean ethnicity pay gap increased this year to 16.5% from 12.1% in 2024. The median also increased to 39.2% from 24.2% last year.
Understanding the ethnicity pay gap
Our ethnicity pay gap has increased mainly because of changes in our workforce and how ethnicity data has been reported, rather than changes to individual pay.
In the April 2025 snapshot, 91.6% of colleagues had recorded their ethnicity, which is slightly lower than in 2024 (92.2%). A higher number of colleagues identifying as white disclosed their ethnicity this year, which increased the size of this group in the data.
During the snapshot period those who joined had a wider range of pay than those who left, and a higher proportion of our new joiners identified as white compared with those from ethnically minoritised backgrounds. These changes further widened the pay distribution which influenced both the mean and median figures.
Ethnicity bonus gap
This year, our mean ethnicity bonus gap has slightly reduced from 28.2% to 27.7%, while the median fell from 4% to 1.9%.
Understanding the ethnicity bonus gap
The reduction in the mean bonus gap reflects changes in who is included in the data and the distribution of higher bonus values. Fewer people reported their ethnicity and the firm’s overall headcount grew. The highest bonus values paid to white colleagues reduced, which narrowed the overall average difference between the two groups and resulted in a lower mean gap.
The median bonus gap reduced because the middle point for white employees and those from racially minoritised backgrounds moved closer together in 2025. As most people in both groups received similar bonus amounts, the difference at the midpoint reduced, leading to a lower median gap.
Update on progress
A key focus in our 2030 diversity and inclusion objectives is to increase representation of people from racially minoritised backgrounds at the firm. This year, we ran a race fluency workshop with our talent partners to consider how their role can continue to support career development for people of colour, reflecting on how culture may influence the way ambition shows up in the workplace, and providing insights into the experiences of people working at the firm.
91% of senior leaders have facilitated inclusivity workshops with their teams looking at a range of topics including dignity and respect at work, psychological safety, and recognising and interrupting microincivilities.
We also hosted four interns from the 10,000 Black Interns programme, making a total 14 since we began our involvement.
Find out more
To find out more about progress in this area please read our first ever responsible business report.
Disability 2025 snapshot and progress
2025 disability pay gap
This year our mean disability pay gap increased from 7% to 9.3%, and the median widened from 19.6% to 22% between employees who’ve declared a disability and those who don’t have one or have chosen not to declare one.
Understanding the disability pay gap
The disability pay gap figures have changed this year largely due to increased reporting. In the April 2025 snapshot, 81% of colleagues recorded their disability status, up from 79% in 2024.
While this improvement in colleagues recording their disability status is positive, it has influenced the results as more employees are captured in the reporting population, differences in role distribution and working patterns have a greater impact on the overall average.
It‘s also important to note that, with nearly one fifth of our people still not having reported their data, the figures don’t yet represent a full picture of the workforce, though they do give us a good indication.
Disability bonus gap
This year, the disability bonus pay gap shows a significant increase in the mean, from 5.3% to 15.8%, alongside a reduction in the median gap, from 5.5% to 0%.
The increase in the mean bonus gap is largely driven by changes in who is included in the data. In 2025, more people reported their disability status than in 2024, increasing both the number of employees who reported not having a disability and those who declared a disability. While bonus eligibility remained consistently high for both groups, the average bonus paid to employees without
a disability increased relative to those with a declared disability, widening the overall average difference and resulting in a higher mean gap.
By contrast, the median bonus gap reduced to zero because the middle bonus values for employees with and without a declared disability aligned more closely in 2025. As almost all employees who reported their disability status received a bonus in both years, and most received similar bonus amounts, the difference at the midpoint reduced.
Update on progress
As one of the few organisations recognised as Disability Confident Leaders, we’re committed to driving meaningful change, evolving and improving over time.
To further show we’re championing visibility and inclusion for those whose disabilities may not be immediately apparent and ensure we meet best practice, we’ve joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme and the Legal Neurodiversity Network. Our partnerships with these organisations have led to practical changes, including the introduction of office accessibility maps.
In addition, we have released awareness training on hidden disabilities to the firm and specialist training has been delivered to key teams including people operations, front of house, and events.
Find out more
To find out more about progress in this area please read our first ever responsible business report.
Looking ahead
Reducing our pay gaps is about sustained actions to increase representation, not short-term intervention.
We are confident in our direction of travel, supported by:
• Strong and improving female representation at senior levels
• Clear succession planning for leadership roles
• High levels of engagement, trust and retention across the firm
• Disciplined and transparent reward and promotion processes
• Significant improvements to our recruitment and selection processes to broaden access and increase diversity at every level
Our focus over the coming years remains on strengthening long-term pipelines, supporting inclusive leadership through sophisticated, tailored learning and development, and maintaining the culture that our people value.
For more information, please read our first ever responsible business report.
Data in depth
Data in depth
as a partner and the gateways they have moved through.
Data in depth
Employees and partners
* All percentages to 1 decimal place
The firm operates a lockstep partnership with gateways at certain points. All partners are remunerated by way of a share of the firm's profit, we don't have any salaried partners.
The profit share a partner receives largely reflects the time spent as a partner and the gateways they have moved through.
Data in depth
Equity partners
* All percentages to 1 decimal place
The firm operates a lockstep partnership with gateways at certain points. All partners are remunerated by way of a share of the firm's profit, we don't have any salaried partners.
The profit share a partner receives largely reflects the time spent as a partner and the gateways they have moved through.
Data in depth
General partners
* All percentages to 1 decimal place
The firm operates a lockstep partnership with gateways at certain points. All partners are remunerated by way of a share of the firm's profit, we don't have any salaried partners.
The profit share a partner receives largely reflects the time spent as a partner and the gateways they have moved through.
Data in depth
* All percentages to 1 decimal place
The firm operates a lockstep partnership with gateways at certain points. All partners are remunerated by way of a share of the firm's profit, we don't have any salaried partners.
The profit share a partner receives largely reflects the time spent as a partner and the gateways they have moved through.
Proportion of men/women in each quartile (%)
Data in depth
Data in depth
Mills & Reeve is centred on achieving more for clients, their businesses and the wider communities we serve.
Our clients and their industries benefit from our knowledge and learning – on everything from wellbeing, diversity and inclusion to global trends. The wider community benefits from a focus on sustainability in client and business decisions.
Our 1,450 plus people and over 830 lawyers share one vision – achieving more together.
Ainslie Wilson-Shearer - She/Her
Ainslie.Wilson-Shearer@Mills-Reeve.com
Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing
Rob Neal – He/Him
Rob.Neal@Mills-Reeve.com
Head of Communications www.mills-reeve.com
The small print
We confirm the pay gap data contained in this report is accurate and has been calculated in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations.
Our figures are based on:
• A snapshot date of April 2025
• Ordinary pay and bonus pay for UK employees and partners
• Both mean and median gender pay gap calculations
We use the same principles to calculate the pay gaps for ethnicity and disability as we do for gender.
Gender pay gap reporting shows the difference between average pay for men and women across an organisation. It is different from equal pay, which is about paying men and women equally for the same or equivalent roles.
We are confident that all our people, regardless of their gender, ethnicity or disability at Mills & Reeve are paid equally for doing the same work.