Nigel Hankin went from driving a tanker to sitting at the controls of a tank, thanks to his bosses at West Yorkshire-based Bayford & Co. Each month the firm, which sells and delivers fuel, lubricants and home heating oil, draws an employee's name out of the hat and pays for them to "live the dream" they have always harboured. For driver Hankin, the dream was a day experiencing the power of a military tank. There might be a lot of heavy vehicles in its fleet, but Bayford has a light touch towards its 190 staff. Every year managing director Jonathan Turner holds a roadshow to consult people on the benefits they would like, and most recently the firm introduced a scheme allowing employees to buy an extra 10 days of holiday. Turner's hands-on approach leads to a positive score of 88% for the faith that staff have in him and 84% for the inspiration he gives them. The organisation operates a countryside fund supporting ventures such as buying toys for a playgroup, reopening a village shop or funding a local horse rehoming centre. With a company-chosen charity, Cancer Research UK, staff feel that their efforts to work for good causes outside work are supported (70%). People say they have had no job-related stress in the past year (83%), aren't under too much pressure to concentrate (76%) and feel that colleagues go out of their way to help each other (79%). There is flexibility in working hours and staff say they aren't bored at work (81%) and have fun in their teams (83%), while out-of-work activities include cricket, football and tennis.
