Best Place to Work 2018: Meet the finalists

It's all very well treating your customers well but if you don't look after your employees it could all go to pot. These start-ups recognise that with amazing cultures and staff opportunities

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Forsyth Barnes

Forsyth Barnes is the executive appointments consultancy providing both permanent and interim staffing solutions to everyone from tech start-ups to global blue-chip companies. Avoiding the poor retention and burn out of staff often found in recruitment, the company has an internal training programme, a ‘promote-from-within’ culture and also offers incentive-based unlimited annual leave allowances.

Learn more about Forsyth Barnes and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Feast It

One of the UK's leading event catering specialists, Feast It handpicks 450 of the finest quality food and drink suppliers for all sorts of events, from corporate parties in the city, to festival-themed weddings in the countryside. Employees are given EMI options, flexible working, healthy snacks, and drinks. Feast It also holds three-monthly reviews and progress reports as well as weekly founder meetings to discuss their ambitions.

Learn more about Feast It and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Glencar Construction

Glencar Construction creates high quality industrial and logistics buildings for some of the UK's leading developers, retailers and distribution businesses. Continual professional development including external training, construction-based seminars and institutional memberships are offered to all staff, whilst flexible working hours are encouraged, with regular social and charity events an integral part Glencar’s working calendar.

Learn more about Glencar Construction and cast your People’s Champion vote here

GuestReady

GuestReady is a short-term rental management service for independent short-term rental property owners, providing professional property listings, guest communication, price optimisation for optimum revenue, housekeeping, laundry and key handover. The start-up encourages its employees to grow themselves professionally, share their ideas, knowledge, experience and take on new challenges by relocating to other locations such as Paris or Dubai.

Learn more about GuestReady and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Tonik Energy

Tonik Energy is a renewable energy company that offers microgeneration, in-home battery storage and electric-vehicle charging solutions. The business is passionate about enabling its 150 employees to work from anywhere and achieve a great work-life balance. To this end it provides all team members with laptops and encourages home working. By spending less time stuck in traffic, Tonik recognises that they will provide a better quality of service to its 90,000 members.

Learn more about Tonik Energy and cast your People’s Champion vote here

London Grace

This social beauty environment concept operates eight stores across London and Essex combining a nail bar, coffee shop and cocktail bar with treatments carried out using its own products. The continued professional development of its staff is an important part of the London Grace culture and regular appraisals are set every four months for each employee, to highlight their achievements and create new goals. 70% of its current management positions were promoted from within.

Learn more about London Grace and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Farmstand

An offline and online plant-powered food business, Farmstand partners with businesses and uses physical locations and technology to acquire online customers on a profitable basis. All physical locations are also pickup points (as it doesn't believe in ‘last mile delivery' to individuals as it thinks the real delivery cost is £10 rather than the £2.50 being charged by Deliveroo). As well as operating a zero-waste policy, Farmstand is committed to its employees who are all owners of the business. The highest paid person is only paid 2.5x the lowest and 50% of its Board and 60% of its team are women.

Learn more about Farmstand and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Talentful

Talentful works with high growth technology companies across the UK, Sweden and Germany to ensure they hire the right people in a timely, cost-effective manner. It has scaled to 70 people over three years and now has two offices in London and Manchester, giving its team the chance to work with stellar names such as King.com, Box.com, Bloomberg and Amazon.

Learn more about Talentful and cast your People’s Champion vote here

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