Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has published its gender pay gap report, revealing a much smaller gap than many of its rivals, in part due to the volume of support staff now based in the firm's Manchester legal services centre.

Unlike most law firms to have published their pay gap reports to date, Freshfields has a near 50:50 gender split in its lowest-paid quartile – a factor that contributes to an overall mean average pay gap of 13.9% in favour of men.

The figure has so far only been bettered by Irwin Mitchell (12.8%) and Taylor Wessing (13.5%) among the UK top 50, and compares with 19.8% and 23.2% at magic circle rivals Allen & Overy and Linklaters respectively.

The 23 UK top 50 firms to have reported so far have an average of 73.4% women in their lowest quartile, compared to near parity at Freshfields at 51.3%.

The higher number of men in the bottom quartile at Freshfields is driven in part by the firm's Manchester support centre, which housed about 350 paralegals and business support staff for the year to April 2017 covered by the report – a figure that now stands at close to 600.

In the other quartiles, Freshfields' demographics are comparable to most other firms, with 67.7% women in the lower-middle quartile as a result of the PA/executive assistant population being 98.7% female.

The report also reveals the firm has a bonus pay gap of 41% in favour of men, a wider gap than the average of 30% reported by other UK top 50 firms to date, although more women (64.5%) received a bonus than men (58.9%).

Nearly 53% of female associates received a bonus, compared to 54.4% of men; however, male associates received on average 17.1% more than women.

Additional details contained within the report include the firm's pay gap for associates and trainees, which is 6% in favour of men due to the larger numbers of men at senior associate level.

Other UK top 50 firms to have published their gender pay gap reports this week include Macfarlanes, where hourly pay for male staff is on average 16.5% higher than their female counterparts.

Male staff receive bonuses on average 31.7% higher than women, with 94% of both men and women receiving a bonus for the year the report covers. Almost 70% of the firm's lowest-paid staff are female, due to larger numbers of women in secretarial roles.

All UK organisations employing more than 250 people must disclose their gender pay gap report by 4 April, although law firms are not required to include partners in their reports.