Asda’s gender move

SUPERMARKET giant Asda vowed to shore up the number of women in top-level roles after revealing a 53% gender gap in bonuses paid.

The Walmart-owned retailer said the chasm was caused by more men working in senior roles, with women holding 35% of the roles. Despite this, its gender pay gap for all workers beat the UK average, hitting 12.5% for mean hourly pay compared to a UK-wide figure of 17.4%. MEGHAN Markle has spoken passionately about starting her life as a working royal, saying she wants to “hit the ground running” when she marries Prince Harry in May.

Ms Markle’s comments came when she joined her fiance and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a forum staged to celebrate the work of the Royal Foundation, which the US actress will join following her wedding.

The star also acknowledged the global anti-sexual harassment movements MeToo and Time’s Up, a move which follows the criticism Kate faced from some on social media for not wearing black in support of the Time’s Up campaign during the recent Bafta awards.

During the event in central London, Harry described his bride-to-be as a welcome addition, saying it was positive they now had “four different personalities” with the “same passion to want to make a difference”.

During a question and answer session, Ms Markle said she had “just been here for three months”, but added: “With that said, for me it’s very important to want to hit the ground running.

“Even if it’s doing it quietly behind the scenes, learning as much as I can to maximise the opportunity we have here to really make an impact.”