23-05-2025
The best places to work in the UK 2025 revealed
Happier staff make for more productive businesses, according to The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025. The results show that those employed by firms that win a place on our lists are more content than other workers at home and abroad — and more motivated, too.
This year's workplace awards also saw a significant increase in the numbers of Big and Very Big organisations taking part, even as businesses grapple with the WFH office exodus, national insurance hikes and trade wars, along with staff recruitment and retention issues.
Research by the employee experience specialist WorkL, which conducts the survey, shows the correlation between engaged employees and productivity. Higher survey scores equate to harder working, more loyal employees and thus lower staff turnover, fewer sick days and the pick of the crop from an increasing number of applicants.
• 26 best very big places to work 2025
The supermarket chain Iceland features in the Very Big category for a second consecutive year. It saw applications for jobs in its shops go up by 50 per cent, while interest in manager roles was 80 per cent higher and there was a 500 per cent increase in applications to the head office after its appearance on our list in 2024.
The Sunday Times Best Places to Work survey is the UK's biggest study of employee engagement. It looks under the bonnet of British working lives — whether in investment banks, burger chains, charities or anywhere in between — to find out how people really feel about their jobs.
• 115 best big places to work 2025
The lists come in four sizes to reflect the different challenges companies face. This year we have pinpointed the 26 Best Very Big Places to Work, 115 Best Big Places to Work, 187 Best Medium Places to Work, and 202 Best Small Places to Work.
Jon Yeomans, business editor of The Sunday Times, notes: 'Happy workers make for good businesses. Staff retention rises, recruitment costs fall, good ideas are fostered and the company's top line swells. Generating a healthy corporate culture does not have to cost the earth, either.
• 187 best medium-sized places to work 2025
'This year's Best Places to Work have each brought clever and inventive ideas to bear: whether entrusting every employee with a company credit card, introducing suggestion schemes with a cash prize or simply training staff sensibly so they feel empowered and enthused about their jobs.'
Other companies showing initiative in this year's awards include Miller Insurance, which offers 12 weeks of neonatal leave and up to five days of carers' leave a year. At ivolve Care and Support in Chesterfield, staff in certain roles get driving lessons paid for; while pet bereavement leave is offered to employees at Herd Consulting, a Sheffield management consultancy which features in the Best Small Companies list.
• 202 best small places to work 2025
The Sunday Times has also launched industry-specific awards this year. Among the winners is marketing specialist Awin, which as well as appearing in our main list of Big organisations is a winner in the Marketing and Advertising industry sector. Staff at the London office of this global firm work four days a week and get paid for five. They can also choose hybrid and remote working options as part of the company's people-first workplace culture.
The winner of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work for Disabled Employees 2025 award is the Alzheimer's Society, where benefits include paid wellbeing days and 'taking stock' days without meetings or emails.
The business case is clear. The Sunday Times Best Places to Work celebrates the extra mile that these companies go to make their employees feel happy, fulfilled and supported at work, from training and professional development to striking a healthy balance between work and home lives.
The Sunday Times Best Places to Work analysis uses 26 questions from WorkL's employee engagement survey, developed by behavioural scientists, data analysts, psychologists, business leaders, academics and other independent parties to most accurately monitor employee engagement, wellbeing and discretionary effort in the workplace.
To achieve a high overall engagement score, an organisation must score well across WorkL's six-step framework, each of which consists of three to five key elements measured on a 0-10 scale:
• Reward and recognition • Instilling pride • Information sharing • Empowerment • Wellbeing • Job satisfaction
An organisation's overall engagement score is the sum of all question responses, divided by the maximum possible value as a percentage.
Employees also respond to statements including:
• I am happy with the hours I work• I am fairly paid• I am recognised when I do something well• I do something worthwhile• My views are heard at work• I understand the organisation's plan• I am trusted to make decisions• My employer cares for my wellbeing • I rarely feel anxious or depressed about work• I am treated with respect• I have a good relationship with my manager• I work in a well-run organisation
To be accredited as a Sunday Times Best Place to Work, organisations must achieve a minimum 70 per cent overall engagement score. The top ten companies are those which achieved the ten highest engagement scores within each of the four size groupings. All employee numbers were correct at the time of survey.
Those participating had to reach these minimum average response rates to qualify: Very big, 40 per cent; Big, 50 per cent; Medium, 50 per cent; Small, 60 per cent.
