The competition is on to find the Best Companies to Work For. Today sees the official launch of next year’s competition with companies of all sizes invited to apply for a place on lists that have become the last word in staff engagement and outstanding working practices.

This is the 10th year of The Sunday Times Best Companies awards and to mark the anniversary we are launching a new competition to find the 50 Best Places to Work in the Public Sector. Open to all public-sector bodies, it means there are now more opportunities to win than ever before, with four separate contests to identify the leading workplaces in Britain.

* The 20 Best Big Companies to Work For — for businesses with more than 5,000 staff.

* The 100 Best Companies to Work For — for medium-sized firms of 250 to 4,999 employees.

* The 100 Best Small Companies to Work For — aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises with between 50 and 249 workers.

* The 50 Best Places to Work in the Public Sector — for public-sector bodies and organisations of all sizes.

Until now, public-sector organisations, such as government departments and agencies, the police and emergency services, local authorities and all other centrally-funded organisations, have competed in the existing Best Companies competitions. They remain eligible for these contests in 2010, but the creation of a separate list recognises the special challenges these organisations face.

Faye Bewley, chief operating officer of Best Companies Ltd, the partner of The Sunday Times that conducts the research for the four lists, said: “With 5.8m employed in the public sector across the UK, and private-sector unemployment rising, the public sector is facing more scrutiny than ever before.

“The Best Companies rankings will enable us to showcase the best practice so that other organisations can focus on what needs to improve to bring them in line with the best workplaces in the private sector.”

And, of course, with the events of the past 18 months in mind, some of our leading banks, once stalwarts of our longer-established lists, could now enter the public-sector competition after the government acquired substantial stakes in them during last year’s banking crisis.

Despite the recession, entries are expected to hit record levels for the 2010 contests. Already hundreds of firms have registered to take part and applications will remain open until October 31.

Last year, 997 businesses sought a place on the three lists — 565 small firms, 383 medium-sized companies, and 49 big companies. The views of more than 200,000 employees were canvassed, making this by far Britain’s largest survey of workplace opinion, satisfaction and, most importantly, engagement, which is why so many organisations want to be part of it.

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