Energy supplier Ovo Energy, restaurant chain Pizza Express and water, waste and energy management firm Veolia have been ranked as some of the Best Places to Work in 2023.
The Sunday Times list celebrates Britain’s top employers and acknowledges the best workplaces for women, the LGBTQIA+ community, those with a disability, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers, and wellbeing.
It was produced in partnership with employee experience platform WorkL, using responses from an employee survey developed by behavioural scientists, data analysts, psychologists, business leaders and academics to monitor engagement and wellbeing in the workplace.
To achieve a high overall engagement score, employers had to score highly across a six-step framework: reward and recognition, instilling pride, information sharing, empowerment, wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Ovo Energy was the special award winner for the best place to work for women, and ranked in the top 10 in the very large organisation category for best places to work.
According to the survey results, the firm scored highly due to its people offer for its 5,000 UK employees that puts its green ethos and flexibility at the centre. This included unlimited compassionate and pregnancy loss leave, shared parental leave, menopause support, fully flexible working, and ‘moments that matter’ and ‘recharge’ leave.
The top 10 very big organisations were:
- Arcadis
- CGI
- Childbase Partnership
- David Lloyd Leisure
- FatFace
- MBDA
- Ovo Energy
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Pizza Express
- Veolia
The top 10 big organisations were:
- Awin
- Benefex
- Churchill Retirement Living
- HE Simm Group
- Mowgli Street Food
- Octopus Energy
- Tails.com
- The Edwin Group
- The7stars
- Vorboss
The top 10 medium organisations were:
- Ancoris
- Carrington West
- EasyJet Holidays
- 11 Investments
- Hamilton Barnes Associates
- Itecco
- NextWave Consulting
- Quooker UK
- SiXworks
- Xalient Holdings
The top 10 small organisations were:
- Albion Nord
- Better Placed
- Big Bite Creative
- DeskLodge
- Fintelligent Search
- Fresh Air Production
- Leaders in Care Recruitment
- Lemongrass Marketing
- Re-Flow
- SWC Partnership
Charlotte Eaton, chief people officer at Ovo Energy, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be officially recognised as one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work. At Ovo, it’s been the most extraordinary few years and we’ve come out stronger. We strive to create a culture which treats our customers and each other with real care, support and respect.
“We want everyone to feel joy in their work and be able to show up as their true selves, difference is something we celebrate here. This is how we can create the very best outcomes for our customers each and every day. I’m so proud of our teams for everything they’ve done.”
Lord Mark Price, founder of WorkL, said: “We’ve been able to figure out, from a qualitative and a quantitative point of view, what the real benefits are of having a happier and more engaged workforce.”