Mills & Reeve works hard to reward its employees by nurturing individual skills and attributes, offering competitive pay and benefits and ensuring a good work and home life balance.

Its staff feel that their jobs are secure, giving the firm a 78% positive score for this question, and say that they would strongly recommend working for the company (80%).

Founded in 1880 and operating from offices in Cambridge, Birmingham, Norwich and London, the legal firm serves a national as well as international client base that includes universities, colleges, local authorities and more than 100 healthcare trusts and NHS bodies.

Fittingly, it works hard to take care of its own 722 employees. About 54% of them earn more than £25,000 and everyone can buy an additional five days’ holiday. Other perks include life and dental insurance, discounted services and occupational health and employee assistance programmes. People can also work flexibly.

Related Internet Links

• Company website

• Mills & Reeve's entry in 2007

• Mills & Reeve's entry in 2006

Turning up the Heat pays off

Strong training and a sense that work is to be enjoyed add up to Heat powering past its rivals into top spot this year

BACKGROUND

• Hats off to great leadership

• Getting the message across loud and clear

• Fly high with the X Factor

• Why it pays to know what you’re doing

BACKGROUND

• Charity wins top small company award

• Special awards for best practice

• Rules of engagement

• 100 Best SME's to work for 2008

Multimedia

• Highlights from the awards ceremony

On the whole, employees are happy with their pay and benefits, are not under so much pressure they cannot concentrate and have not suffered stress-related symptoms in the past year, with all three questions gaining 72% positive scores.

Managers attend social events and people are confident in their leadership skills (72%), saying they care about them as individuals (74%) and that they talk to staff openly and honestly (75%).

Development opportunities include career workshops, secondments to clients, taking on new roles or transferring to another office.

Staff report that the jobs are good for personal growth (76%), that the experience they gain is valuable for the future and that work is stimulating (both positive scores of 75%). The training is also of great benefit to them (70%), ranking the firm 41st.

Employees feel the company could do more for the community, however, giving a positive score of 58% for the Giving Something Back factor, even though Mills & Reeve participates in a huge range of events to raise money for good causes. Staff have helped create a dedicated garden for schools in Cambridge and raised £5,700 for the Matthew Project, a charity that supports youngsters with addiction problems.

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