Capco has kept staff feeling connected with regular informal team catch-ups and a range of events and activities including quizzes, bingo and a performance from a magician. Employees participated in a team-based running challenge in November, which saw them clock up nearly 20,000km and raise £3,500 for charity.

Last year Capco raised £50,000 for a range of charities including Hackney Foodbank, and Veterans Aid and employees completed 400 hours of volunteering despite the ongoing pandemic. Staff continued to support education and youth empowerment through various initiatives including pro-bono consulting.

Camelot allows employees to claim up to £1,000 off gym memberships and this subsidy now includes online classes. Everyone can access virtual appointments with GPs, counsellors, physiotherapists – and get life, money and wellbeing support. To help working parents and their children, the firm made an additional 15 days' paid leave available.

Last Christmas, Watford Borough Council and local cycle-hire scheme Beryl Bikes encouraged residents to take part in a Laps To Lapland initiative to fundraise for the Watford Helps Covid-19 charities appeal. The aim was to collectively cycle the 6,307km distance from Watford to Lapland and back, and Camelot donated over £6,000 to the cause.

Bush & Co's first response to the pandemic was to emphasise how much the business cared for employees and their families. The firm set up an advice hub and sent “happy post” such as chocolate and sleep masks to people's homes. Managers joined in lunchtime yoga and mindfulness sessions.

Under a joint venture on case management services, in partnership with organisations such as the Child Brain Injury Trust and the Spinal Injuries Association, Bush & Co donates support funds for life to people who are referred as part of the litigation process, no matter how their injury was caused.

A “Walk the Mind” team social involved the whole team committing to take time away from their screens, outside if possible, and share photos. They all took their walk at the same time, making them feel connected even though the pandemic kept them apart.

Brilliant Noise participated in a local scheme called Tech-Takeback, donating all its unused or old laptops, printers and hardware to be distributed to families who needed them for homeschooling. Staff have taken part in clean-ups on the nearby beach.

The Bright Care Training Academy has continued to run throughout the pandemic to develop employees, who all have a personal development plan. An in-house performance coach is available to help and support the mental and physical wellbeing of all employees.

Bright Care believes strong teams are formed by people who play together as well as work together so it actively encourages employees to plan social events together knowing that other teams within the organisation will cover this time out for them.

The first creative agency in the UK to achieve ISO accreditation for sustainability at both in-person and digital events, Brandfuel has appointed a sustainability ambassador to ensure the issue remains central to company culture. The agency helped found ISLA, a not-for-profit alliance promoting environmental best practice in the events industry.

When senior managers noticed that some staff were struggling with home working and isolation during the lockdowns, they set up a virtual social calendar which had events, challenges and drop-in sessions. On the agenda were coffee catch-ups, photo competitions, virtual bingo and virtual escape room.

Every Monday, on all social media channels, a ‘Meet The Team' campaign showcases one employee, who explains what their role is and shares some of their home life. The aim is to show that behind ‘Making Technology Human' is a human being.

Communication pods were set up after the pandemic started to ensure staff kept in contact with their teams and allow managers to check, informally, how everyone was doing. This helped managers to identify people who were struggling to work from home and put in place measures to support them.

BHP provided online pilates classes for staff working at home. It also introduced a fortnightly mindfulness/meditation session, delivered on Zoom by a wellbeing professional. This was held during work hours, and recorded for use later by staff who could not join in because of other commitments.

The agency has launched a BBH Parent Network, an advice site with its own interactive feed for working parents to connect and share tips and advice based on their own experiences of working from home. BBH Satellite was launched to connect colleagues living in the same area for non-work-related chats.

With many new recruits joining remotely, the People Team created a Virtual Onboarding Programme to help new employees to settle in their new roles despite not physically meeting their line manager or future colleagues. They were also paired with BBH ‘buddies' to assist their integration.

Bark offers secondments to all its departments. The aim is to make sure there is a smooth transition from one role to another and that everyone is happy with the transition. A variety of internal or external training is available to encourage staff to increase their skills.

Weekly one-to-ones take place with all employees and there are also weekly team-building events, along with six-week and quarterly town hall meetings, which have been moved online. There are also online socials.