The Group’s remuneration policy is broadly consistent for all employees and is designed to support recruitment, motivation and retention as well as reward high performance in the context of appropriate risk management. Remuneration is considered within the overall context of the Group’s sector and the markets in which the divisions operate. The policy for the majority of employees continues to be to pay around the relevant mid-market range with a package designed to align the interests of employees with those of shareholders, with an appropriate proportion of total remuneration dependent upon performance. Management seeks to ensure that our pay policies and practices are free from unfair bias. This is monitored by an annual equal pay audit that reviews pay and bonus decisions by gender, ethnicity, age and full time versus part time working. In addition, it considers the pay of the oversight departments (Risk, Compliance and Internal Audit) as well as Finance and Human Resources and looks at decisions for employees who report directly to the business versus those who report to the function head.

The policy for directors is described in more detail on the following pages.