The financial world has its booms and its busts, but the staff of Nicoll Curtin feel cushioned.

These recruitment consultants work in three separate companies, helping to find executives, financial staff and IT experts for investment banks. Jonathan Dodge, managing director of NC Financial — one of the firms — says he has seen three or four crashes as well as some “ridiculous” rises. “It makes it exciting,” he admits. “The banking world goes up and down, and there is always something going on. Banks survive.”

The 52 employees (half of whom joined the expanding company in the past year) agree — the firm took top spot for job security with a positive score of 92%. Staff feel fully involved (91%) and that they can make a difference (90%) and contribute to the company’s success (94%).

Everyone has performance-related pay and about half the employees earn more than £35,000, with a good number taking home more than £55,000. Nicoll Curtin makes an effort to be fair. When a member of staff finds a candidate for a client managed by somebody else, they both share the commission.

Related Internet Links

• Company website

Turning up the Heat pays off

Strong training and a sense that work is to be enjoyed add up to Heat powering past its rivals into top spot this year

Background

• Hats off to great leadership

• Getting the message across loud and clear

• Fly high with the X Factor

• Why it pays to know what you’re doing

Background

• Charity wins top small company award

• Special awards for best practice

• Rules of engagement

• 100 Best SME's to work for 2008

Multimedia

• Best Small Companies to Work For 2008

• Highlights from the awards ceremony

There is also a scheme to prevent people returning from time off to a backlog of work, with everyone having a “wing man” (or woman) for when the main contact is not around.

NC firms have a policy of “working smarter not longer” and, sure enough, people aren’t under too much pressure to concentrate (89%) or to perform well (88%). The firm’s London base closes between Christmas and new year, so everyone has holiday then, plus managers can give extra days off or duvet days as an ad hoc reward.

Derek Johnson, chairman, is inspiring (93%), and on the website he says of the firm: “I felt that rather than being just another body-shifter in this unregulated industry we would create a company of high ethical standards, one concerned with the development of the careers of candidates as well as our own consultants.”

Explore Best 100 Companies

• Best 100 Tables