Gender Pay Gap Report
HSL is a family business, which has equality as a core value.
We are an equal opportunity employer, championing inclusiveness and diversity. We target fair pay and reward at every level in the organisation.
About HSL
HSL has been providing customers with comfort through its high quality, handmade furniture for more than 50 years. Over our lifetime our group has developed and grown, but what has never changed are our passions for delivering comfort and enhancing lives. We’re still family-run, we continue to hold traditional values in our hearts, and we remain dedicated to providing a caring service and excellent value for money for our customers and a supportive, inclusive and enjoyable working environment for our diverse workforce.
What Is Gender Pay Gap Reporting?
ince April 2018 all organisations with more than 250 employees have been required to report statistics indicating their gender pay gap, both on a government website and their own website. The gender pay gap represents the difference between male and female mean and median pay across the whole business.
This is an initiative led by the UK government, as part of its commitment to improving transparency of pay differentials between men and women and tackling gender equality issues.
The information reported in this summary relates to High Seat Limited – the HSL group’s retail subsidiary – as this is the only group company with more than 250 employees. It is based on actual figures measured at a Snapshot Date of 5th April 2025, and reflects the following six data sets:
1. The percentage difference in mean (average) hourly pay between male and female employees for the twelve months ending on the Snapshot Date (the Relevant Pay Period);
2. The percentage difference in median (mid-point) hourly pay between men and women during the Relevant Pay Period;
3. The percentage difference in the mean bonus between men and women during the Relevant Pay Period;
4. The percentage difference in the median bonus between men and women during the Relevant Pay Period;
5. The percentage of men and women respectively who received a bonus during the Relevant Pay Period; and
6. The percentage of men and women in each hourly rate pay quartile, split evenly across the workforce, reported by lower, lower middle, upper middle, and upper bands.
We will continue to measure and publish our Gender Pay figures each year but, equally as important, we will continue to seek ways – including listening to feedback from our colleagues - on the further actions we can take to increase diversity and inclusivity across the business.
HSL’s Gender Pay Data
Overview of Approach
We collected our gender pay gap data on 5th April 2025 when our workforce consisted of 284 women and 150 men. Where comparisons have been drawn, we have used 2024 data.
Review of Gender Pay Data
Our data show:
- A mean pay gap of 15.7%, which is an increase in comparison with the 9.8% pay gap reported for 2024.
- A median pay gap of 8.5%, which is an increase in comparison with the 3.7% pay gap for 2024.
Although historically HSL’s figures have shown a mean and median pay gap we are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to reduce this. The existence of a gender pay gap does not necessarily mean that there is unequal pay for equivalent roles and there are a number of reason why organisations’ reports might show a gender pay gap.
We have a large proportion of female colleagues working within our stores and home visits as Comfort Specialists, often working on part time hours which gives a larger headcount in this area of the business. These roles are also paid at lower rates - which is in line with other retailers - to other areas of the business. At the time of this report 52% of HSL’s workforce (225 colleagues) worked as Comfort Specialists in our retail channel and 77% (173) of these are female.
Since this report, Comfort Specialist rates, which are close to NLW rates in most cases, increased at a higher rate than HSL’s annual pay award. This has been the case for several years and means all our store staff, whose rates are close to NLW rates, have received higher pay awards than HSL’s annual award and this will reduce the pay gap going forward.
At the snapshot date, in the upper pay quartile, where the gender pay gap is concentrated female representation was strong, with women holding 40% of board positions and 75% of senior management roles.
HSL encourages flexible working across all levels and all roles, enabling colleagues to balance their career with their family and personal commitments. We believe this will have a positive impact on the gender pay gap by reducing the need for people to take career breaks when starting a family or when they have primary childcare responsibilities. Excluding our Retail colleagues, who work on a part time model, 18 out of 73 (24%) female colleagues now work flexibly.
Review of Bonus Pay Data
79% of women and 83% of men were paid a bonus in the Relevant Pay Period. The mean bonus gap was -31.7% (2024: 65%) and the median bonus gap was 24.9% (2024: 29.6%) In both cases the bonus gap is impacted by the basis of calculation, which uses the actual bonus paid, and does not adjust for the impact of part time working where women have the largest representation. If account was taken of the impact of bonuses which are pro-rated for part time hours worked, the median bonus gap would reduce.
Director Statement
"We are proud of HSL’s passion for equality and diversity across the organisation. Women are heavily overrepresented in our lower paid functions, however, since the time of this report we have taken steps to address this by continuing to award higher annual pay awards in our stores where we have a large proportion of women who are close to NLW rates.
We will continue to focus on development opportunities across the business to allow all colleagues to fulfil their potential and progress development opportunities wherever available.
I confirm that the information within this report is accurate."
Ben Waters, Chief Executive Officer