Pareto Law is the Best Small Company to Work for in the UK

Wilmslow based graduate recruitment and training firm Pareto Law is the UKís best small company to work for, according to The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For. The survey, which is part of The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, is the largest ever study of small company workplaces and is published with The Sunday Times on March 6, 2005.

Pareto Law, who placed and trained over 700 graduates in the last 12 months, emerged as the number one small company to work for with staff citing a sense of fun as key to the success of the firm over the last 10 years. One of its more radical ideas is ìstrip cold-callingî, whereby employees have to forfeit an item of clothing when they receive knockbacks on the telephone.

The company believes in looking after its staff, offering company cars and mobile phones, private healthcare and company trips abroad amongst its benefits. The bosses at Pareto also strive to establish the company as a lifestyle rather than just a job, renting out affordable housing to employees in an area that would normally be too expensive for new graduates.

Joint managing directors Jonathan Fitchew and Andrew Sawer received the award at a ceremony in London on March 3 2005. Jonathan Fitchew commented: ìAndy and I came up with an idea to recruit fresh graduates and train them in selling so that they were equipped to succeed from day one. That was just an idea. Without the team it would have remained just an idea. Our people have shown a level of energy and enthusiasm that I have not seen in any other business I have been associated with. Work is a huge part of our lives. It has to be emotionally rewarding as well as paying the rent.î

This is the second major accolade the company has won in this year, having scooped the National Sales Award best team of the year in February 2005. It follows a decision to set up a regional network of Pareto Law offices based on a franchise model. The Pareto Law Leeds office opened in January 2005 under Paul Belliss to serve the Yorkshire-Humberside region.

The survey is based on the responses of nearly 13,000 SME employees to 66 questions covering areas such as leadership, personal growth, well-being, fair dealing, how employees feel towards their immediate boss, their colleagues and their company generally, and what they feel about how much their company gives back to the community.

Employees of SMEs responded with more positive results than their counterparts at larger companies for each of the 66 questions, with teamwork and leadership emerging as the most significant strengths of SMEs. Questions relating to ìmy teamî were the highest scoring amongst SME employees, with an 80.2% average positive score (compared with 77% for larger companies). As an example, 85.6% of employees said they laugh a lot with colleagues. For all questions related to leadership, the SME employees gave an overall positive score of 76.8%, compared with 71.9% in the main survey of larger businesses. The greater intimacy of SMEs means that senior managers and directors are more visible and accessible to staff. Employees at small companies also report an overwhelming sense of caring for their immediate colleagues (83.6% average score) and having fun at work (84%).

The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For, now in its second year, was open to all companies with between 50 and 249 employees. The SME list is kept separate from the main list of 100 best (larger) companies since workplace structures are different for small companies and most cannot match the extent of facilities and benefits of larger organisations. The separate surveys allow detailed and accurate analysis of the differences between the two sectors. The survey was conducted by Best Companies Ltd and is backed by the Department of Trade and Industry.