When Allan McKay was mobilised by the Territorial Army in February last year, his army kitbag held unusual significance for him. The Windstopper fleece inside would be far too hot for Iraq, where his unit was heading, but only two weeks before he had been helping to make it, in his role as production operator in the Scottish fabrics division of W L Gore.

The firm that invented Gore-Tex weaves its technological magic into everything from the inner lining of bagpipes to heart surgery equipment and microwave missile sensors for combat aircraft. But it spins the most complicated and nurturing net around its workforce, as 37-year-old McKay discovered.

“I had just two weeks’ notice to leave my job and join the army last year, but the company was completely behind me,” he says. “They were the only people to turn up at a companies’ night organised by the Territorial Army to explain what was happening, and my leaders sent me e-mails each week when I was out in the Gulf.

“The HR team phoned my wife, Karen, every week, to check everything was okay with the children and to see if there was anything more they could do. When I got back, I couldn’t take the four weeks of leave I was due because I wanted to see my workmates. They reminded me that a free counselling service was there, and that they would give me anything I needed.”

Now that one of his colleagues — another Territorial Army member — is in the Gulf on a peacekeeping mission, McKay is careful to provide the same kind of support. This teamwork is typical of the company, which has no directors, managers or secretaries. Everybody is an “associate” and, after four years’ service, all associates get an annual share in the firm worth a tenth of their salary.

W L Gore was a little unusual from the start. In 1958, an American couple, Bill and Vieve Gore, launched a company to explore the potential of PTFE — a type of fluoropolymer that Bill had investigated as a research chemist at DuPont. Their son Bob, a chemical engineer, suggested making a waterproof, breathable fabric and Gore-Tex was born. While their employees developed the science, the family moulded a company around four guiding principles: fairness, freedom, commitment, and “waterline” (taking risks but not sinking the ship). Now the firm has 6,000 associates and 45 plants across the world.

The 426 people who work at its three sites in Scotland — two in Livingston and one in Dundee — have the kind of enthusiasm for the company that even the Scottish weather cannot dampen. They rate Gore astonishingly highly in our survey, with the firm coming first in eight categories. A total of 86% of staff say they believe they can make a difference at the company, 89% feel they make a valuable contribution to business success, 87% would miss the company if they left and 85% just love working for Gore.

It is a principled place, according to 89% of staff. The company rarely takes advantage of employees (only 28% say it can do), and only 32% of staff think the principles are based on the leadership of one person, be it the chairman and chief executive of the global firm, Chuck Carroll, or the head of the UK associates, John Kennedy.

Gore gives its staff a break, too: only 14% think their health suffers because of work, and six out of 10 don’t feel exhausted after work — the second-highest score. Holidays range from 25 to 30 days a year, depending on length of service. Maternity/adoptive mothers’ leave is six months on full pay, with two weeks on full pay for fathers.

Benefits include health and dental care, life insurance, final salary pension and subsidised food. There is an annual profit-share bonus, which is calculated as a ratio of average earnings in the present and past three years.

Fairness is a word that crops up again and again, something that is aided by staff setting their own salaries. Teams decide how much each member should be paid, so salaries can vary by up to 40% in the same group. Each year, everybody scores the contribution of each person in their team. The aggregate scores are compared with current salaries and people putting in above their weighting have a better rise.

Carol Storrie, a production development worker in Livingston who helps to create shielding products (military satellite covers), says: “Salary is extremely fair. I am considered on my worth to the company, and we also each have a sponsor who gives us an annual review by collecting comments from our team mates. It really is great feedback.”

There is a lot of freedom, too, according to Carole-Anne Smith, a product specialist who works on snow sport clothes such as the Rossignol brand. “We assimilate people as we go along, and everyone is responsible for their own part. There isn’t a ladder and there is nobody to do things for you. Some people don’t gel with this culture and leave, so we commit a lot of time to interviewing and finding the right personalities.”

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