Welcome to The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2006. Whether your company has made the list and you want to revel in its success or you are looking for a better workplace than the one you have, this list sets the benchmark for research into employee satisfaction in the UK.

More than 86,500 employees across more than 500 companies have contributed to this year’s findings, our sixth year of publication. The result is not one, but two, definitive guides to the most progressive, enjoyable and inspiring workplaces in Britain. The 100 Best Small Companies to Work For are now covered in a separate publication, also published free with The Sunday Times today. Bigger than ever before, this 32-page dedicated supplement showcases all that is good in small businesses.

This magazine contains two lists: our original 100 Best Companies to Work For and an expanded list of the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For. Competition for all of them gets stiffer each year and helps drive up standards. Businesses cannot stand still and continue to flourish in such dynamic company.

Our demanding survey procedure requires a high degree of commitment from the senior management of competing companies. There is no anonymous panel of judges. It is the staff themselves who give us a frank, unadulterated insight into their working lives. It takes a brave boss to allow an outside organisation such as our partners Best Companies Ltd to freely survey their people, but the culture in all our winning companies embraces honesty and openness. Employees know they can speak freely and the result is a definitive piece of research.

I thank Best Companies Ltd for their dedication to seeking out the best workplaces. My congratulations to all those who have made our lists, whether big or small.

Richard Caseby is managing editor, The Sunday Times

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