W L Gore is famous for its high-performance fabrics which keep people warm and dry, and its 460 members of staff find the company’s commitment to its employees as watertight as its products.

When it comes to feeling you can make a difference (an 84% positive score) and not being exhausted at the end of most days (63%), this is the place to work. Gore gets the best results on these points out of all 100 companies on our list.

The organisation, founded 51 years ago by Americans Bill and Vieve Gore in the basement of their Delaware home, has become a global business with offices in locations around the world, including three sites in Scotland.

Famous for its Gore-Tex clothing, the highly skilled staff research, develop, manufacture and sell a range of goods from ski jackets to guitar strings. Virtually all of the company’s products are based on just one material, a versatile polymer called ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) discovered by the couple’s son, Bob, in 1969.

The organisation has been granted more than 2,000 patents worldwide and more than 25m Gore medical implants have helped patients around the world live longer, healthier lives. It’s not hard to understand why employees believe they can make a valuable contribution to the success of the firm (86%), love their work (84%) and are proud to work for the organisation (87%).

People clearly like working for Gore, a four-time winner of our competition. A look at the payroll reveals that more than half of its staff have been with the firm for at least a decade. Strong relationships are the key to success at Gore which believes in the power of small teams. Groups are led by the most appropriate person during the changing cycle of a project. They certainly get on well together. Employees say they have fun with their colleagues (80%) and that teams care a lot about each other (81%).

The unique management style of this company, based in Livingston, West Lothian, means there are no job titles, no job descriptions and no managers, only leaders and associates, as employees are known, who are paid according to their contribution. They help determine each other’s pay and choose a colleague to support their development.

It is okay to take care of the things that matter outside the office provided that work commitments are met, which means associates can be at home for deliveries and can go to school events with their children.

The nature of the job means that employees are rarely bored (81%) and wellbeing scores are high. The workforce does not feel under too much pressure to perform well (80%) and people’s health is not suffering because of their job (86%).

A good range of benefits includes private health and dental cover, profit-related pay, share options, childcare vouchers and critical illness cover.

Team members on maternity leave get 26 weeks’ full pay, 13 weeks at 90% and another 13 weeks unpaid if they want to spend a bit more time at home with their new arrival. Sabbaticals and career breaks are on offer and employees can buy extra holidays. The company also offers a final salary pension.

Its mission is to make money and have fun. Gore certainly does what it says.

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