BlackRock has narrowed the gap between what it pays male and female staff in the UK, putting it ahead of other large City institutions that have failed to make progress in the past year.

Women working at the world’s largest fund manager earned a median 23% less per hour than their male colleagues last year, down from 28% in 2017. The disparity between bonus payments shrank to 33% from 45%, according to BlackRock’s latest gender pay gap report.