The company published the figure in a report that also includes its 2020 gender pay gap, which businesses of over 250 employees have been required to report on since 2017.

Organisations in the UK are not currently required to publish their ethnicity pay gap data.

The report, based on the responses of 80% of Ipsos Mori managed employees sharing their ethnicity data, found that its workforce is 78% white and 22% ethnic minority, with a mean ethnicity pay gap of 16.2% and a median gap of 11.2%.

Mean pay gap is defined as the difference in the average hourly rate of pay, while the median pay gap is the difference between the midpoints in the ranges of hourly pay.

Women account for over half of the company’s workforce ( 56%) and the mean gender pay gap in April 2020 was 11.1% (median of 4.9%), driven by a lower proportion of women in the most senior leadership roles.

Ben Page, chief executive at Ipsos Mori, wrote in the report: “Although this is moving in the right direction, compared to the gap of 13.7% in 2018 when we last published our gender pay gap, we want to do better.

“The pay gaps are due to an under-representation of women and ethnic minorities at our most senior levels which is unacceptable. We are committed to reducing both pay gaps with a focused inclusion and diversity strategy that is supported by detailed action plans.”

The company has changed its approach to graduate recruitment, removing traditional entry requirements such as Ucas points and degree classification.

It said it plans to include ethnicity pay indicators during pay reviews across all levels and ensure that promotions and associated processes are ‘transparent and equitable’.

The UK government’s recent controversial report published by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities recommended that employers investigate any ‘existing ethnic pay disparities’. However, it did not recommend mandatory reporting and there is currently no legal requirement on companies to do so. 

Several business groups, including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), charity Business in the Community (BITC) and Women in Advertising and Communications (Wacl), have called on the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.