Make money and have fun. That’s the mission statement of W L Gore, the Gore-Tex manufacturer. Last year the company turned over £117m of business and, as the results of our survey show, it’s a great place to work too.

Working for this firm is a passion for staff who would thoroughly recommend it to others, earning it an impressive 87% positive score. They don’t just like their job. They love it (84%).

The Livingston-based firm, which topped our list for the past four years, is best known for its waterproof and windproof jackets but is also responsible for a large range of innovative products from guitar strings to filtration systems and membranes used in surgical procedures.

The firm’s modest beginnings date back to 1958 when Wilbert L Gore, known as Bill, and his wife Vieve launched a business in the basement of their home in Newark, Delaware. It wasn’t long before W L Gore’s products were found on the moon and around the world.

Related Internet Links

• Company website

• W L Gore's entry in 2007

• W L Gore & Associates' entry in 2006

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

Bill Gore believed a non-hierarchical environment would help creative minds flourish. As a result there are no job descriptions, no titles, no managers, just leaders, who account for about half the staff. Working for the privately owned company is like being part of a large family. They know each other well because more than half of them have worked together for at least a decade and staff turnover is low at just 8%. The 453 UK employees are accountable to each other and help determine colleagues’ pay.

The firm earns a 90% positive score for making health and safety a top priority and few workers have reported stress-related symptoms in the past 12 months because of their job (85%).

Workers think the company makes a difference to the world we live in (80%) and say colleagues go out of their way to help each other (82%). Employees feel they can make a valuable contribution to the success of the firm (86%) and say colleagues are fun to work with (81%).

Job sharing, home working, reduced hours, flexitime and staggered hours mean staff can balance home and work commitments. Benefits include free private healthcare, profit-related pay and a contributory pension scheme.

Explore Best 100 Companies

• Best 100 Tables