Eight of the country’s brightest small businesses have been recognised in a new award scheme.
Designed to celebrate the best employers, the inaugural Best Employer Awards recognise organisations and individuals that have gone the extra mile to demonstrate excellence. Judges looked for originality, impact and empathy.
Rebecca Goldie, Partnerships Director at Wagestream said: “Small businesses not only represent 99% of all businesses around the UK, but are also some of the most progressive when it comes to building a great workplace. The Best Employer Awards were launched to acknowledge that, and give other organisations a chance to build on new examples of best practice for creating a great employee experience.”
Bubba Hospitality is a new business that launched last year in the heart of Angel in London.
Heidi Birkin, Director EMEA Marketing, Deputy, who was a member of the judging panel commented: “Having the best professional development culture is centred in the belief that your employees, and nurturing their careers, is key to the success of your company. Bubba Hospitality has done just that. They are a small team but they recognise that to ensure they can succeed as a business is to ensure that each and every single one of their employees succeeds too.
“We were impressed by their principles of 100% internal progression within the organisation, weekly, monthly and quarterly recognition protocols that award achievements on an individual and team basis via performance based bonuses, monthly employee satisfaction surveys that cover everything from personal mental health to alignment with organisational values, career development and personal growth. With bar managers moving to become managing directors within a year, this company practices what they preach.”
WeAreFlourHouse opened its doors in Bristol just over a year ago with a team of seven employees.
Heidi Birkin said: “This award was originally ringfenced to put a spotlight on an individual employee whose efforts deserved recognising. On reviewing the submissions, one application stood out. WeAreFlourHouse decided not to recognise one of their employees, but their entire workforce – and we quite agree.
“They believe that their business would not be where it is today without the help of their superb staff. This company has been going for a year, and the same seven team members who were there at the opening are still part of the business – so let’s recognise them now.”
Rebecca Goldie added: “The standard of entries we received for the awards was truly astounding, and just proved what we thought all along, that there are a whole host of small businesses in this country that are doing exceptional work. We look forward to this becoming a fixture in the calendar for small businesses.”
Nominations were made via an online submission with supporting evidence. More than 50 nominations were received and eight winners were chosen by a panel of judges from Wagestream and Deputy.
Other winners included:
Nurses Friend: Best recruitment
MyTutor: Best employee wellbeing strategy
Perfect Cleaning: Best financial wellbeing strategy
Legatics: Best internal communication approach
RideTandem: Best employee recognition culture
92 Degrees: Best place to work
