COME FRIDAY AFTERNOON you will find the UK team behind Thomas Sabo jewellery and watches kicking back in the kitchen at their London head office with a glass of wine, reflecting on the week. Summer park runs also feature and this social lot say it's fun to work with their team — an 85% positive score, ranking the company 29th in our mid-size list. The 269 UK employees who work at 50 sites — at the Battersea base and in standalone shops — feel they can make a positive contribution to the success of the organisation (85%), which designs and distributes retail and wholesale products. They are proud to work for the firm (81%), which is based in Germany and operates internationally. An open-plan office initiative and cross-departmental projects along with monthly team-building events, such as pub quizzes and lunches, encourage bonding. Employees say that the people in their team go out of their way to help them (81%). Managers regularly express appreciation when people have done a good job and talk to them honestly (both 79%). The firm, which has a My Team score of 82%, was founded in 1984 and is privately owned by its founder Thomas Sabo. Top names hired to promote the brand include the British model Georgia May Jagger and the German violinist David Garrett, whose version of Adele's Hello has received more than 82,000 YouTube hits. www.thomassabo.com
