Staff were kept informed about health and safety issues and Oprema's sales figures during the pandemic. Update meetings took place on Microsoft Teams and, on the social side, there were remote quiz nights. Managers maintained contact and recognition by sending gifts to staff in the post.

Mind Cymru remains the company's charitable partner this year as it was unable to raise as much money in lockdown-affected 2020 as in previous years. In 2019 it donated nearly £10,000 to Macmillan Cancer Support. During the pandemic, it raised funds through the on-site tuck shop which it ran.

Engineering recruits who were not fully trained at the start of the pandemic were able to continue their development through virtual training sessions. The company invested in new camera equipment to help trainers using Microsoft Teams. Staff can also access learning material via the Workplace platform.

Colleagues who excel are recognised for their performance: managers can nominate individuals for a £50 reward and teams can share up to £500. When the annual awards ceremony was switched to a virtual event, the firm sent hampers to winners' houses so their families could enjoy the celebrations.

LTE uses a performance appraisal process to measure manager performance throughout the year. This is based on a number of key factors including contractual compliance, learner achievement and staff engagement – and the group's Best Companies results support these action plans. LTE aims to develop its performance management process further over the coming 12 months.

A core LTE value is being one team, with staff collaborating and contributing to company goals. The organisation's senior leadership team of around 60 people represents its current and future leaders and meets times a year to share performance and development.

There is a simple ethos for training and development. LPF supports 100% any training that is required for people to do the work; any training that helps a colleague do their job even better; and any training that helps a colleague develop into a future role.

LPF increased the frequency of its recognition scheme from annual to quarterly. Staff can nominate someone who has gone the extra mile by helping a member or colleague or by thinking outside the box. Winners receive a Social Stories Club hamper, a branded pen and a certificate.

For anyone who was furloughed, the company organised training through the learning and development team and worked closely with their managers to ease them back into work. It encouraged every employee on furlough to learn a new skill that could support them on their return to work.

The bespoke Launch programme caters for people's individual learning needs. Each employee is assigned to a course which they complete over a number of months. The delivery is increasingly and sometimes wholly online, using tools such as Zoom to ensure content is delivered in an engaging manner.

Additional programmes have been rolled out to support managers, including Managing Insiders, which provides training on recruitment, communication, managing performance, managing conflict and employee engagement. Managers are additionally offered the chance to complete an MBA on a part-time basis. Regular “round tables” allow managers to raise any issues of concern.

Founder Simon Martin has led from the front on the company's diversity policy, launching a Changemakers programme to coach employees on what it means to be anti-rascist, not just non-rascist. More than 40 changemakers have been trained and a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion lead hired.

Huel says it likes to have fun in the workplace and has set up “amusement alliances” of three people from each office to run social events for six months, giving them a budget and project management responsibility that encourages negotiating and presentational skills.

1% of company profit is given to initiatives that support sustainable nutrition such as Eat Forum, a science-based initiative aiming to transform the global food system. Employees are to be encouraged, once the pandemic is over, to give a working day per year to tree planting or working at a food bank.

Team leaders – and all employees – were able to access coaching and mentoring throughout. GMCA also piloted a reverse mentoring scheme and initial feedback has been excellent. It organised resilience workshops for all staff, as well as specific training around resilience for managers.

GMCA has continued with operational training, after an initial pause at the start of the pandemic. Now done in a Covid-safe way, development moved online through e-learning, webinars, and other platforms. The organisation received excellent feedback after two very well-attended events, ‘Learning at Work' week and a ‘Festival of Learning'.

Fresenius Kabi encourages an open-minded creative can-do culture that offers employees of diverse cultures and backgrounds a wide range of fulfilling and challenging career and personal growth opportunities, domestically and internationally.

Last year, Fresenius Kabi Germany gave €20,000 (£17,400) to the GoBanyo initiative which helps homeless people in Hamburg. The GoBanyo shower bus offers people the opportunity to shower free of charge and supply themselves with clean towels, clothes and hygiene products.

Every month two staff exemplifying the company values are presented with champagne and shopping voucher by chief executive, Enrico Sanna, at the all-company update and Fora has a “Team Takeover” every fortnight where different departments create some entertainment for the company on that day

Fora encourages biodiversity by building bat boxes, beehives and bird houses and ensures plants in its gardens are bee friendly. Fora only buys food or toiletries that are free from palm oil as well as local produce from ethically sourced suppliers and it uses renewable energy for its electricity.