When Andrew Douglas Payne led a management buyout of CBG Consultants, he believed that the company could only grow if it invested in staff expertise. Four years later, the Oxfordshire business has a new office in London and 58 employees designing energy-efficient building systems for clients ranging from top private schools to local authority housing services. The company gets its best results for the way employees can develop, with a top 15 positive score of 83% for Personal Growth overall. The team has grown by almost 60% in two years, and the original employees have been encouraged to move through the ranks. CBG will support staff in taking qualifications from degrees to getting professional chartered status. There are various seminars, and the firm does not have a set budget but provides training where needed. It also pays subscription fees for professional institutions and associations. Staff say their jobs are great for personal growth (90%, and the eighth highest score) and agree there are no limits to how much they can learn and grow (79%). The experiences here are also valuable for the future (87%). The company gets high marks for offering stimulating jobs (82%), which can be anything from refurbishing the grade I listed, 17th-century principal's lodgings at Jesus College in Oxford to dedeveloping the St Charles hospital kitchens in London. Employees feel CBG makes a positive difference to the world we live in (77%) and helps to protect the environment (74%). A second Oxford office for sustainable consultancy will offer low-carbon advice and dynamic thermal modelling. Managers are well trained, and people say they listen as well as tell (84%) and make excellent role models (81%). However, the company gets the lowest overall score for questions on My Team, although it was still 73% positive. People are happy with pay and benefits (76%), which include 25 days of leave and the option of buying or selling another three days. Engineers make just under £34,000 a year and everyone has performance-related pay. There's a non-contributory pension after a qualifying period, and subsidised gym membership. The offices are stocked with filtered water, decaffeinated drinks and skimmed milk while people have plenty of flexibility about hours. As a result, they don't suffer work-related stress (83%) or end most days feeling exhausted (57%). Employees feel they can make a valuable contribution to the success of CBG (86%).
