Community spirit is a guiding principle at this large business which runs retirement villages in England. Being part of a community feels like family, it says – and it wants to offer colleagues as well as residents the best years of their lives.

Inspired Villages Group was established in 2017 in partnership with Legal & General, with a team of 25 colleagues and two villages. Now the workforce is almost 300 strong and there are seven sites, in Warwickshire, Cheshire, West Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and Devon, with more planned. Some of the properties can be rented rather than bought.

CEO Jamie Bunce says: "Community is key for us, so we put great emphasis on building our relationships with the wider local area". With this in mind, the organisations 'Inspired Friendships' initiative helps tackle loneliness amongst older people and sees colleagues volunteering to make regular calls to members of the scheme for a chat and to make new friendships.

Having built the very first net zero carbon village in Bedfordshire with its partners Wilmott Dixon, Inspired Villages Group has pledged that all future villages will also follow suit putting sustainability at the forefront of its thinking.

Colleagues are encouraged to put their ideas forward for environmental initiatives, such as the use of single-use plastics in cleaning products initiative which was created by the groups housekeeping teams; and bike points have been set up throughout its villages to encourage colleagues to participate in its cycle to work scheme.