A regular on the Best Companies to Work For list, thecentre:mk is a property management group that also helps create opportunities for the long-term unemployed. The organisation established Skillscentre:mk to offer a two-day training course, Retail Suits You, and a third of the 313 trainees are now in permanent work. The 123 employees at the Milton Keynes-based centre work in a variety of roles from cleaning to marketing. They feel a strong sense of family (an 83% positive score), believe the organisation puts a lot back into the community (72%) and that it protects the environment (88%, the second highest score for this question). It makes a real effort to lessen the impact of all that shopping, reducing electricity use by 20% a year, and increasing recycling to more than 50%. The shopping centre last year made our inaugural Green List of Britain's greenest companies, ranked 30th. Good causes are not ignored either, with 32 people using paid work time last year to volunteer. Staff agree that training is of great personal benefit (75%). Vacancies are often filled internally and there is an in-house learning centre. In addition, everyone gets £145 a year for personal development. The company tries to give people autonomy too. When a shopping centre customer sat on a spilt milkshake and ruined her coat, the team member she approached had no qualms about refunding its full cost. Cleaners earn just over £15,000 a year. People are happy with their pay and benefits (77%) and feel fairly rewarded for their roles (76%). Everyone has a centre discount card, with the company values printed on it. Staff say there is a good balance between work and home life (79%). They don't feel taken advantage of (75%), and, with its 230 outlets, believe thecentre:mk makes a positive difference to the world we live in (76%).
