So dedicated are staff at TBG that even when boss Simon Mansell offered his employees an early finish in the first week back after the new year, they were still at their desks when he went home. “I said we would finish at 2pm and, when I left two hours later, people were still here,” he says. “They tell me to stop messing around sometimes!”

People at this London-based internet advertising agency, started in Mansell’s bedroom in 2001, say their teams are great fun (93%) and that they have found their dream job (70%) — but staff members still take their work seriously, saying it is an important part of their lives (89%).

Many of the 51 employees started in an organisation that was growing beyond expectations and were swiftly promoted into senior roles. Amy Daynes, a copywriter, says she has found her dream career. “I don’t have a degree and I didn’t have much experience, but I said, ‘You have to believe me and give me a break’ — and they did. It is a wicked company to work for.”

The business gets the second highest score in our table — a 93% positive result — for the personal growth people experience, and staff also say the training is of great benefit to them (82%) and the experience they gain from the job is valuable for the future (93%).

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 are plenty of good times to be had, appropriately enough for a company with an average age of 28 — the managing director Mansell is 28 himself. Little “we love you” vouchers can be redeemed for an extra half day’s holiday and the annual awards include presents handed out for best dressed and best hairstyle, with rewards in kind (£200 of Selfridges vouchers and a free Toni & Guy cut).

The employee of the year — voted for by all of the staff — gets two extra days of holiday and £1,000 to spend on a break.

The firm has a big summer bash such as a trip to Disneyland Paris, Christmas parties, monthly team lunches for achieving targets, free monthly massages, early finishes on Fridays and a birthday lie-in for all.

When somebody didn’t quite fit in recently, Mansell paid them five times the necessary severance pay, despite advice that this might be seen as admitting some kind of guilt. “I took that risk,” he says. “I would like him to go to his next employer saying we were a good company.”

Explore Career & Jobs

• Graduate / Management

• Senior Executive

• PA / Secretarial

• Public Sector

• Legal

• Recruiter Forum

• MBA

• Top 100 Graduate Employers

• Top 50 Women

• Best 100 Companies

• Careers in