At Arriva we are committed to delivering essential passenger transport services that connect communities, friends, and families, and help people access jobs and vital services. We take great pride in our diverse workforce, who work hard every day to enable people to get where they want to be, on time and in comfort.
David Martin
Arriva Group
As one of Europe’s leading passenger transport companies, we care passionately about connecting people and communities to each other, to their places of work, to education and to leisure activities. I believe our success is driven by having a workforce that represents and understands the needs of the communities we serve. I’m proud of our approach to inclusion and to lead an organisation that values all employees regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, or any other characteristic.
In the UK, the average pay gap can vary across our businesses due to their differing size and operational scale. However, overall, when looking at pay averages, we can see that in 2024 our figures are weighted slightly in favour of males, with mean average earnings 2.3% more than females per hour when looking at averages across our 19 eligible UK businesses. This compares with a gap of 1.0% in favour of males in 2023.
While the margins between 2024 and 2023 are small, it’s important to note there are several factors that influence these numbers: the fluctuations in the ratio of males to females year-on-year in different parts of the workforce, better business performance impacting bonus pay, and variations in drivers’ hours worked.
We are continually working towards an equal pay gap through various diversity initiatives.
Indeed, we have made great progress on inclusion over the last year, seeing an increase of 42% in external hires that were females and a 23% increase in the number of women being recruited as train drivers. There was only a marginal increase in female bus drivers, so we remain focused in this space. Since 2022, female representation in all leadership roles has increased by 4.3%, demonstrating good progress against the targets set out in our Inclusion Strategy.
Male employees continue to outnumber female employees in most of our operating businesses and while this is seen across the whole transport sector, we recognise that improving our gender balance presents an opportunity as we look to attract new, talented individuals to the public transport sector.
In 2024, we have made good progress with a number of initiatives specifically designed to grow gender diversity at Arriva.
- Our UK-wide Better Balance network continues to grow and offers networking and development opportunities specifically for female colleagues.
- We ensure there is gender balance when making selections for our Talent Development Programmes.
- When recruiting for senior roles within our business, we have introduced guidance around gender balanced shortlists. We have also introduced protocols for gender neutral language in our advertising and looked for ways to target female talent by promoting flexible working opportunities.
- We plan to expand our use of Diversity Jobs Boards that are targeted to specific audiences to enhance and support the improvement of the number of females within Arriva , for example: the‘Jobs4Women’ specific board.
- Our Global Arriva Inclusion Networks (GAIN) continues to grow, with a full calendar of events planned throughout the year, focussed on enhancing diversity across Arriva.
- To further promote diversity, we have launched a reverse mentoring programme. This aims to empower colleagues and those from under-represented groups to speak up and help build awareness of the barriers they face in the workplace, and in turn improve engagement, overall experience and retention.
- Introduction of a Menopause policy and partnership with external company Bloody Good Employers to support education around Menopause and Menstrual Health for colleagues.
- We have embarked on a programme of school visits to promote apprenticeships and we have co-hosted webinars for Women in Engineering.
- We work with an external reward expert to benchmark Arriva’s pay against the wider industry and to ensure we remain competitive.
Across Europe we have a vision to help shape a future where passenger transport is the best choice and achieving that vision starts with our people. We know that organisations with greater gender balance not only perform better, but also help to create more inclusive work environments. It is a priority for me to have a diverse, talented, and motivated workforce so that we can create a strong future together.
David Martin
Executive Chair
