'No disparities' in horticulture wages, HTA says

This followed research carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) that showed male managers earning on average £10,071 more than their female counterparts.

CMI Women in Management network chair Sandra Pollock said: "Four decades have now passed since the Equal Pay Act became law, when the pay gap stood at 34 per cent across the board. In many ways things have progressed. However, the UK still has some way to go."

In response to the CMI's findings, HTA business development director Tim Briercliffe said: "The HTA carries out an annual wages survey in the horticultural industry and the resulting information is invaluable when recruiting new staff or reviewing existing wage rates within the garden sector."

He added: "The survey is not broken down by gender and while we acknowledge that women can be under-represented in occupations in the land-based industries, to the best of our knowledge we are not aware of any disparities in male to female wages within our sector."