PwC UK has become the latest of the Big Four to update its gender pay gap figures to include equity partners, which has found the firm to have the largest gap of 43.8%.

Deloitte is a close second with 43.2%, followed by KPMG (42%) and EY (38.1%). Further, PwC also revealed a 35.9% pay game for its Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees and partners. PwC explained that the partner pay gap had not been based on full time pay, but had been calculated by total distributable profits.

PwC chairman and senior partner Kevin Ellis said the increase required the need for more women and ethnic minorities in senior roles. “We pay our women and men equally for doing the same or equivalent jobs across our business. The issue is one of senior representation rather than pay inequality and it is not good enough,” he said.

Gender pay gap reporting guidelines from the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) specifically exclude equity partners because they are the business owners. Yet following increasing pressure from the public, the Big Four firms published updated figures earlier this month to include partners.