Leading with confidence is at the heart of SAS UK’s ethos, whether it is providing customers with software that will enable them to answer strategic business questions, or providing employees with a caring environment in which they have the opportunity to grow.

SAS UK provides business intelligence software to more than 1,400 companies in a variety of industries. The UK arm of the organisation contributes £60m to global revenues of more than £81 billion. There are more than 100 offices spanning 50 countries.

The company prides itself on the training and development opportunities offered to staff. In our survey three-quarters of employees say managers support them when they need to learn new skills.

In the past year, SAS UK spent £366,000 on training — about £929 per person — with the average employee receiving 13 days of training.

The firm is committed to the wellbeing of staff and subscribes to an external employee assistance programme, which provides counselling and support for all areas of life.

There is a positive approach to flexible working, which means a number of staff have the options of working from home, working part-time or having staggered hours. Line managers have the responsibility to ensure hours do not exceed 48 per week.

New mothers who have been with the firm for more than five years get maternity pay at 100% for eight weeks and a further 18 weeks at 75%, and fathers get two weeks at 100%, regardless of length of service.

In our survey, 77% of employees say their managers trust their judgment, 80% say they have confidence in the abilities of colleagues and the same number say team-mates go out of their way to help them — the latter a top 25 score for this measure among all the 100 best companies.

SAS UK does not operate a formal reward scheme, although employees are encouraged to share ideas via the firm’s intranet, which is used to keep staff up-to-date along with e-mail and a quarterly newsletter.

Additionally, SAS UK has quarterly company-wide meetings offering staff the opportunity to ask questions. Individual departments also operate a recognition scheme, where employees nominate colleagues who they feel have made a significant contribution.

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