In The Sunday Times Very Big Organisation category –2,000 plus employees – Childbase was the only early years provider included in the list of 10 names. The group was also highly commended in the ‘Best Places to work for 16-34 year olds’ category.
It was ranked ‘excellent’ in all six areas of areas of assessment and achieved scores of 90 per cent for pride in the employee-owned company and the initiatives in place to promote diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability.
The nursery group which has more than 2,000 staff has been an employee-owned company since 2017.
Chief executive officer Emma Rooney said that ‘external surveys and awards scrutiny’ were designed to gauge morale and tailor support and benefits more accurately.
‘When you are committed to giving young children the very best start in life, a happy supported staff team, who love their work and workplace, is absolutely vital,' she said.
‘Happy, energised employees who have fun at work are more creative and innovative; establish strong, supportive relationships and not only enjoy their job but are also better equipped to meet workplace challenges.
‘As a result, employees are more likely to stay ensuring consistently high-quality provision which is very good news for the children and families in our care.’
She added that the company is focused on targeting support to help colleagues meet cost of living challenges. In December, the group made an £8.5 million investment in increased salaries, free meals at work, discounted shopping deals and wellbeing and mental health initiatives.
Childbase Partnership has been a ‘Sunday Times Best Company’ for over 13 years and was ranked in first and second place in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The new lists, powered by WorkL engagement specialists, do not rank by number.
The Sunday Times partnered with employee-experience platform WorkL on the awards to find out what makes a ‘Best Place to Work’, using 35 questions from WorkL's employee engagement survey, the awards monitored employee engagement and wellbeing in the workplace.
Chris Longcroft, EVP Publisher, The Times and The Sunday Times, said, ‘The Sunday Times Best Places to Work awards recognise companies that create a happier and fulfilling working environment for all, by fostering engagement from their teams, yielding great business and performance in return.’
Congratulating the winners, Lord Mark Price, Founder of WorkL, said, ‘I have little doubt that these awards will help with both retention of your existing employees and drive recruitment of the best candidates into your organisations in the year ahead.’
Childbase was also recently ranked 14th in the UK Great Place to Work Awards 2023 for companies with more than 1,000 employees.