“DON'T FORGET YOUR lipstick,” people tell each other at ITC Luxury Travel (including the 13 men). Last year this luxury tour operator introduced a set of business principles, known by the acronym “lipstick”. The Chester-based company invited its 103 people to love the firm, imagine a successful year, plan, step in to new things, trust themselves, invite others in, celebrate wins and keep it simple. “All staff have been taken through a lipstick coaching course and all managers are utilising the lipstick principles to build teams and confidence,”the firm says. Everything certainly looks immaculate, with its workforce voting ITC a Best Company for a fourth consecutive year. The private organisation was founded in 1974, offering upmarket travel options to the Caribbean, and now puts together holidays for clients from ski trips to wellbeing retreats. It has four offices in northern England, and is (unusually) female-dominated at every level. In total, 87 of its employees are women — most of an age when they could have children — but the firm claims to offer jobs for life and 26 people have been there for more than 10 years. Staff feel My Team is the best part of work (giving a top-20 positive factor score of 90%). To celebrate its 40th year in business, ITC took everyone to a beach for a Caribbean-themed party with a steel band, surfboard simulator and limbo dancing. People may have drained the rum punch but they don't drain each other (81%) and have a lot of fun together (94%). Team events include taking part in a corporate choir competition overseen by Manchester's Hallé Orchestra and a lunch-in to celebrate the 2014 football World Cup. People don't just share a buzz together (88%) — they care about colleagues (93%, the company's own highest-ranked score at 13th). The firm helps people deal with the pressure of peak sales periods with a meditation programme that includes “deep yogic breathing”. Employees don't feel their health suffers because of work (87%) or feel exhausted most days (63%). Staff certainly get away, too. Last year at least half of the workforce had a “privilege trip” on one of ITC's luxury holidays, costing the business £100,000 and netting it a lot of proud people (93%). www.itcluxurytravel.co.uk
