Lush named among 11 ‘trailblazers’ supporting women in the workplace

By Lynsey Barber | Published: 5-Oct-2026

Beauty brand and retailer Lush has been highlighted as a standout company for female employees in the 2026 Women in Work Gender Equity Measure (WiW GEM) Report produced with LinkedIn

Lush has been named one of 11 companies that are “trailblazers” when it comes to supporting women in the workplace, according to a new report.

The British beauty brand and retailer has a gender pay gap of under 1% and a board that is at least 50% female, according to the 2026 Women in Work Gender Equity Measure (WiW GEM) Report produced with LinkedIn.

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Just 137 of the 400 UK companies assessed by Women In Work (WIW) met the three gender equity measure (GEM) benchmarks: a gender pay gap below 15%, at least 33% women on the board, and a publicly available parental leave policy.

However, that was a 13% rise on the previous year, according to the report.

Lush was highlighted as going further than this, along with retailer H&M and Sensodyne owner Haleon.

The report identified a “progression drop” for female employees, based on nine years of gender pay gap data.

The new metric shows the difference between women's overall representation within a company, compared to their representation among its highest-paid employees, and how this affects the gender pay gap.

Six in ten employers in the UK fail to progress or retain women in line with their 49% UK workforce representation, the LinkedIn analysis revealed.

Women account for 49% of manager-level talent but just 40% of promotions into senior leadership, indicating a narrowing of the pipeline into boardrooms.

At more than half of companies (61%), women are underrepresented in VP-level roles and above.

An estimated 65% of senior roles are filled from outside the organisation from male-skewed talent pools, with external hiring widening the gender gap.

Meanwhile, 43% of new senior leadership appointments go to women.  

“Progression has always been about making sure people can see a future for themselves in a business,” said Rowena Bird, co-founder of Lush.

“We are a bricks-and-mortar high street business and many of our people work with us in one of the Lush factories or in retail.

“A lot of them start working for Lush at Christmas and stay beyond.

“We are incredibly proud that people can build long and fulfilling careers with Lush.

“To be recognised as a Women in Work (WIW) Trailblazer for the second-year running is a real honour.

“It reflects what we have always wanted Lush to be – to build a culture where passion and commitment are what gets noticed, whatever route someone took to get there."

The vast majority of Lush’s senior leaders have progressed from its shop floors or production rooms, including Head of UK&I Retail, Kasey Swithenbank, who began as a Sales Assistant in Cardiff.

Lush’s manufacturing, which is traditionally a male-dominated industry, is now close to a 50/50 gender split, the company said.

This has been helped by offering 10am to 2pm manufacturing shifts that are designed around school runs.

Meanwhile, retail managers can trade contracted hours for shorter working weeks

The company reports retention rates of above 70% in retail and above 85% among management

Mandatory reporting of company gender pay gaps was introduced in 2017 for any employer with more than 250 staff.

“After almost a decade of pay gap reporting, we know how big the problem is,” said Mariella Frostrup, co-founder of WIW.

“Now we can see where it takes hold. Women are getting in, but they are not getting on.

“Any business serious about closing its pay gap has to look beyond who it hires and ask who it promotes, and who gets into the rooms where decisions are made.

“The continued growth of the WiW 100 proves this can change.

“The employers getting it right are creating the conditions for women to move beyond entry level, unlocking talent their competitors are overlooking.”

Janine Chamberlin, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, added: “Highly qualified women are driving exceptional results in businesses right across the UK, but too often the people making promotion decisions never see it.

“Our data shows that where women have stronger connections across teams and seniority levels, they are 7.5% more likely to progress into leadership.

“Progression is not only about performance. It is about access, and who gets the tap on the shoulder.

“Every employer can start changing that today. Sponsorship, cross-functional moves and real visibility with senior leaders are not nice-to-haves.

“They are how we keep women moving through the pipeline, especially that crucial step from manager into senior leadership, and how we finally close the pay gap."