PARCEL FIRM DPDgroup delivers for its staff as well as its customers. Following feedback from monthly coffee nights with drivers of heavy goods vehicles, a cleaner was hired to valet their cabs on site, and those who move trailers have been issued with the best protective gloves after a request to their employee forum. Owned by La Poste, the French postal service, the group runs the DPD and Interlink Express businesses in the UK, delivering 1.6m parcels a week for customers including Superdry and John Lewis. Based in Smethwick in the West Midlands, it employs 6,621 people at 59 UK sites, including a new £100m parcel hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire, which created 1,000 full-time jobs. Employees are proud to work for the firm, a 75% positive score. It won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2015 for its one-hour delivery service and topped last year's Motor Transport Awards for training, business excellence and customer care. The organisation donated £280,000 to charity in 2015. It is determined that every parcel delivery should be carbon neutral, and staff believe the group genuinely cares about the environment (70%). Dwain McDonald is an inspiring chief executive (68%, ninth). He often spends a day in the call centre or shadowing a driver to fully understand their roles. People say he runs the £1bn business, which aims to double in size by 2025, on sound moral principles (69%). Employees believe they can make a valuable contribution to the company's success (79%), and are happy with their pay and benefits (66%). Three-quarters earn between £15,000 and £25,000 a year, and perks include staff discounts, free drinks and subsidised sports. www.dpd.co.uk
