To boost morale, get people together and help support each other and share experiences, employees set up a range of fitness, cooking and cake-making clubs. People can drop in to Weekly Cake Tuesday on Teams, an open forum for staff to share news.

Employees volunteered their time to help out in the kitchen at Winchester Churches Nightshelter on a regular basis last year. At Christmas, Clevertouch employees also raised £250 to provide the residents of two moving-on homes with everything they needed for a festive feast.

The agency makes 40% of its operating profit available for performance-related bonus rewards, and last year the whole team received a bonus for outstanding contribution. Everyone receives a £500 cash bonus at Christmas, and there are one-off bonuses of up to £1,000 for exceptional performance.

The senior leadership team are focused on remaining active practitioners – more than 60% of their time is spent doing client work. They work directly alongside the team, integrating themselves by hot-desking. This helps them to retain credibility and lead by example.

Christian Housing believes in developing its staff internally through individual training or job shadowing. Staff are given the opportunity to “act up” as managers to cover maternity leave or sickness absence. E-learning sessions on GDPR, whistleblowing, business continuity planning and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are available.

Every month, employees are invited to an ‘All Hands' Zoom meeting with senior managers providing business updates and providing an open forum for questions. Weekly virtual coffee meetings are held for colleagues to chat informally and a staff member runs weekly mindfulness video calls.

For the last three years Cello Health has been supporting The Trussell Trust and its foodbanks including throughout lockdown. Cello Health also held virtual fundraisers including a bake-off and charity quiz and donated £10,000 to Findacure, a charity which supports people with rare diseases.

The Cello Academy has been running for 14 years and connects all of the Cello businesses through the process of management learning and development and includes The Aspire Programme for new managers, The Inspire Programme aimed at mid-level managers and project leaders and The Senior Leaders Programme.

Christmas hampers were to every employee to thank them for support and efforts over the past year and retail and customer service teams held a range of events from quiz nights to dress-up & exercise classes to keep teams motivated and positive.

Over the last year Bravissimo's warehouse has recycled 72 tonnes of bailed cardboard, 17.3 tonnes of polythene, and 16.4 tonnes of tissue paper. The Product team have donated leftover textiles in an initiative that has meant local schools have been able to use the materials for Art lessons.

To keep his teams connected, amused and fed, CEO David Ball set up ‘Doughballs', which invited in-work and furloughed staff to bake treats on Zoom. With yeast hard to find, Bell sourced supplies and sent them out to those who needed them. ‘Doughballer of the Week' has become a desirable accolade.

Managers are tasked with building effective teams with clear objectives, focus and delivery and are provided with generous training budgets to allow team members to embrace new skills and ideas. Individual performances are managed, monitored and celebrated using KPIs and measurable goals.

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.

The senior leadership team communicates with staff through company-wide meetings every quarter, which involve Q&A sessions where staff can choose to be anonymous. They spoke one-to-one to every employee at the start of the pandemic and set up weekly management calls to ensure the flow of information through the business.

Before Covid-19 restrictions, staff enjoyed getting together out of work for karting and white-water rafting. Although social events were forced online during 2020, team members have stayed on their toes by competing in fitness events, and relaxed by sharing virtual Friday afternoon drinks.

Boss has worked with Streamz, a London youth charity, for three years and its employees contribute to the cause not only through donations but by helping young people develop their CVs and advising them on how to interview well. The company is also the main sponsor for Hartley Wintney Football Club in Hampshire.

BLK Box has introduced a monthly Most Valuable Player award in which employees are able to vote for the colleague they believe goes above and beyond their role. The winner is announced at a team meeting and receives a £100 voucher of their choice.

Managers are given free access to LinkedIn Learning and other platforms to enhance their leadership skills with effective practices and tips passed on during monthly management meetings. Senior managers were given the opportunity to attend a Business Mastery event which focused on studying innovative approaches used by successful industry leaders.

Wellbeing food and drink boxes were given to staff during the pandemic to raise morale. They also received a luxury Christmas food hamper, delivered to their homes, as well as a £250 bonus for working hard throughout a difficult year.

Bishop Fleming continues to support national charity Young Enterprise, which reduces youth unemployment by giving young people work-related skills, by providing financial, volunteer and board level support across all its regions. Each office chooses a local charity to support through fund-raising and expertise.