Alyson O'Kane is about to celebrate her 15th year as an accounts manager. Her daughter Jade is busy working on technical support in the claims team, and her two sons, Adam and Craig, have popped in for bouts of work during university holidays. The O'Kanes sum up the happy family of staff at the Davis Group, a Suffolk-based insurance broker. At the company's last biannual conference, senior management was put on the spot with an open question and answer session. After the grilling, the doors of the Hanbury Manor Marriott hotel and country club in Hertfordshire were thrown open, and a lavish party was put on for everyone. Leigh Davis Smart has been the group chairman and chief executive for 18 years. He wins respect from his employees, who have a lot of confidence in the leadership of senior management (an 86% positive result). There are options for flexible work or reduced hours to fit in with school hours, for example. It is a generous workplace and the Davis Group charitable trust is funded with 2% of the firm's annual profits. Total donations now exceed £100,000. Anyone can become a trustee, and the firm also works with the Prince's Trust, giving more than £100,000 over the past five years. Staff feel a strong sense of pride in their company, with a positive score of 86% and say the organisation really tries to help its employees, with a positive score of 88%.
