Pearlfisher and Elmwood make ‘best companies’ list

Design consultancies Pearlfisher and Elmwood have been named among the best small businesses to work for in the UK by The Sunday Times.

Pearlfisher is ranked in 37th place, and Elmwood in 80th place in the Best 100 Companies to Work For tables, published yesterday.

The selection criteria include staff morale, holiday and maternity packages, childcare, diversity in the workplace, staff turnover and benefits.

According to Richard Casey, managing editor of The Sunday Times, this year’s Best Small Companies survey takes into account the opinions of more than 32 000 employees from about 513 SMEs.

According to the report, 89 per cent of Pearlfisher employees regard their work as ‘stimulating’ and 58 per cent of staff earn more than £35 000 a year.

Jonathan Ford, creative partner at Pearlfisher, says, ‘I think it’s because we offer more than a workplace, we offer a culture, where staff are able to express themselves and be part of a bigger team.

It’s become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy that in the past 15 years we have managed to attract like-minded clients and inspiring projects.’

Nicolas Marnier, managing director of Elmwood London, explains that the consultancy has been making concerted efforts to improve its working environment, staff training and development and benefits packages.

‘We’ve been working hard with our Beyond 21 Programme, looking at everything from desk space to schemes that encourage communication between our offices across the country,’ says Marnier.

Ad agency Wieden & Kennedy was ranked in 31st place.

For further details, see www.bestcompanies.co.uk/methodology.