THIS MEDIA AGENCY runs a five-star, no-expenses-spared luxury resort — but it's not for staff, it's for their phones. Carat, which has offices in London, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh, helps colleagues to switch off properly on holiday by encouraging them to check their mobile into an inhouse “phone hotel” before they go. People work hard and reap the benefits — the company has won 80 industry awards in the past two years. Employees care about the success of the firm, giving this an 87% positive score. Work-life balance is a priority at the firm, which is the British arm of Europe's largest media network. As well as encouraging its 268 staff to leave their cares behind when on holiday — all their emails are handled by colleagues so there is no backlog — the company held a wellness week last year which gave people the chance to participate in self-defence and meditation sessions and attend talks on quarter-life crises and debt management. Colleagues say their health doesn't suffer because of their jobs (75%). They can go on subsidised skiing and surfing trips, and a £1,000 scholarship is awarded to somebody every quarter to take a course — previous choices have included life drawing, comic-book writing and brewing. Most of the workforce is aged 34 or under, and they have fun together (87%). Colleagues throw themselves into life at the firm. At the London office, a sports day in Regents Park included a good-natured egg-and-spoon race with “lots of cheating”. People say they feel a strong sense of family in their teams (82%, a top-10 score). Benefits include private health care, life insurance and 20 weeks of maternity leave at full pay. If mothers do not want to return full time they can continue to work for the firm on a project-by-project basis. The company's links with tech firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter have paid off — staff from these businesses visit Carat to hold workshops and give talks. People agree that their jobs are good for their personal growth (81%). www.carat.co.uk
