Top

2013's best big companies to work for

Household money

Simon Ward
Updated on 22 August 2013 | 3 Comments

The Sunday Times has released the results of its annual Best Companies To Work For list. Here's the top 25.

The Sunday Times has released its annual index of the Best Companies To Work For. Companies nominate themselves (for a fee) and then get staff to fill out a survey on aspects of workplace culture from leadership to wellbeing, and from opportunities for personal growth to a fair deal in terms of pay.

The companies are then ranked based on the employees' responses to those surveys.

For the 2012 results, head to 2012's best big companies to work for.

Here are this year’s top 25 big companies.

Position	Company	Industry	2012 top 25 position
1	Pets at Home	Retail	2
2	Iceland Frozen Foods Ltd	Retail	1
3	InterContinental Hotels Group	Hospitality	14
4	Bourne Leisure	Leisure	13
5	Sytner Group	Car dealers/rental	3
6	McDonald's Restaurants	Hospitality	10
7	Marriott Hotels International	Hospitality	12
8	RSA Insurance Group	Financial	6
9	Goldman Sachs International	Professional	4
10	Whitbread	Hospitality	-
11	PricewaterhouseCoopers	Professional	5
12	American Express UK	Financial	7
13	The Midcounties Co-operative	Retail	24
14	Ernst & Young	Professional	-
15	Inchcape UK	Car retailer	-
16	Accenture UK Ltd	Professional	15
17	AXA	Financial	19
18	EE	Telecommunications	-
19	Zurich Insurance	Financial	17
20	Boots UK	Retail	21
21	Barchester Healthcare	Healthcare	-
22	Hilton Hotels UK	Hospitality	18
23	Atkins	Engineering	-
24	KPMG	Professional	8
25	Elior UK	Catering	-

In addition, Intercontinental Hotels Group won a special award for its training and development, while Zurich won the award for "giving something back".

As you can see, most of the companies on this year's list are household names. And it seems money doesn't always buy you job satisfaction, as only a third of Pets At Home's employees earn more than £15,000 a year, although nearly half are part time.

To find out more about why their employees rate these companies so highly, go to the official Best Companies website.

More on work

The best paid jobs

How to write the perfect CV

Redundancy pay: get the biggest payout if you lose your job

Ten weird and wonderful jobs that really do exist

Most Recent

Comments

mambach
18 March 2013
nickpike, having worked for several manufacturing firms, and talked to others in the same agency - many manufacturers don't have employees, just self-propelled robots. Actually, in one factory, the machines got more respect than the people - certainly more time money and care spent on maintainance.
REPORT This comment has been reported.
0
CuNNaXXa
12 March 2013
Just another plaque to hang on the wall. What is best for one is not necessarily best for another. I should also point out that when I worked for a national distribution network, they more or less tried to coerce the employees to say favourable things about them to attain the 'Investor in People' award. They got the award and displayed it prominently in their foyer, even though they were being investigated for serious breaches in Health and Safety (they eventually got fined £75,000, even though they had awards for Health and Safety as well). The best companies to work for are those who don't seek awards, but who treat their staff with respect. My own employer has no need to try to promote its business with such awards, preferring to foster better relations with its employees. Whenever I see such awards as 'Investor in People' or 'The Times' awards, I always think that they concentrate too much on gaining awards, and not enough time on actually promoting positive employee relations. These companies put too much stock in awards, using them as trophies. (Actually, how can a company actively display Nebosh Health and Safety Gold Awards while being fined £75,000 for a serious breach in Health and Safety?)
REPORT This comment has been reported.
0
nicknuts
12 March 2013
All service sector. What's wrong with working in the private manufacturing sector, the most important where wealth is generated, or what's left of it I suppose?
REPORT This comment has been reported.
0

Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature

Most Popular

Copyright © lovemoney.com All rights reserved.

loveMONEY.com Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with Firm Reference Number (FRN): 479153.

loveMONEY.com is a company registered in England & Wales (Company Number: 7406028) with its registered address at First Floor Ridgeland House, 15 Carfax, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1DY, United Kingdom. loveMONEY.com Limited operates under the trading name of loveMONEY.com Financial Services Limited. We operate as a credit broker for consumer credit and do not lend directly. Our company maintains relationships with various affiliates and lenders, which we may promote within our editorial content in emails and on featured partner pages through affiliate links. Please note, that we may receive commission payments from some of the product and service providers featured on our website. In line with Consumer Duty regulations, we assess our partners to ensure they offer fair value, are transparent, and cater to the needs of all customers, including vulnerable groups. We continuously review our practices to ensure compliance with these standards. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of our editorial content, users should independently verify information with their chosen product or service provider. This can be done by reviewing the product landing page information and the terms and conditions associated with the product. If you are uncertain whether a product is suitable, we strongly recommend seeking advice from a regulated independent financial advisor before applying for the products.