Conceived 45 years ago, 85% of pregnant women in the UK now visit a branch of Mothercare, says chief executive Ben Gordon. Among those to breeze through the doors of its flagship Marble Arch store in London are Angelina Jolie, Heather Mills McCartney and Jordan.

“Our staff are specialists,” says Gordon. “And you couldn’t ask for a better customer group than mothers-to-be, they are all just so excited.” That enthusiasm rubs off; staff are the least stressed of any in our top 20 big companies and give Mothercare an 81% positive score, which helps it win our special award for wellbeing.

Tracie Mason is an international merchandise planner, specialising in the Middle East, and joined the headquarters in Watford five months ago. She says: “When I got here I had two buddies, and the heads of department all came in to help.” Training really helps staff (getting a 70% positive score) and the 75% result for the feeling that team-mates go out of their way to help is bettered in just four other companies.

The social side of company life would have any baby bouncing. John Carolan is head of buying and has been at Mothercare for 18 months. Despite commuting five hours a day from Nottingham, he says: “I play football on Mondays and there is a golf day for charity in August. The money will go towards a wing on a maternity ward in Tirupur, India, and a children’s hospice in east London.” The staff fun score of 81% is by far the highest. Carolan also feels comfortable with management. He says: “My line manager has been a great mentor.”

Branch merchandiser Remi Pennington, voted employee of the month last December for her work on opening the new Guildford store, says: “I felt that all the hard work I had put in was recognised.” The freedom to excel is reflected in the score of 76% for staff finding it easy to be themselves in their team, and the work of the Mothercare Foundation, the company’s social responsibility arm, earns the business a 75% score from staff for belief in its values.

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