This year we won Accountancy Age, Employer of the Year for an unprecedented third year.  We’re also the only accountancy firm with a third successive listing in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to  Work For, and one of only two in the Financial Times UK Best 50 Workplaces.  We’re also ranked in  The  Times Top 50  Where  Women  Want to  Work and The  Times  Top 100 Graduate Employers.

Our staff turnover remains below the industry average. Over the year we increased our total staff, including partners, by 12 per cent to 3,183.

Flexible working is the way more and more people want to work nowadays. It also suits clients, many of whom also want to work more flexibly. Last year we introduced our second-generation work-anywhere IT platform, which enables our people to replicate their entire work environment at home – or wherever else they may be. This complemented the launch of our Flexible Working  Toolkit which formally introduced flexible working policies to the entire firm. Both initiatives were major factors in our selection as a finalist at the HR Excellence Awards 2007.

We’ve stepped-up our investment in ensuring that our offices provide a comfortable and stimulating environment, for staff and clients alike. By early 2008 we’ll have relocated all our London staff from five existing offices to an outstanding new site on Baker Street. We’ll also have opened new or relocated offices in Cambridge, Gatwick, Glasgow and Leeds.

“Our focus on the individual is a big strength,” says Director of  Human Resources Daniel Kasmir.  “We’re able to offer a broader range of opportunities than larger firms, and people are often pleasantly surprised to find how accessible our top people are.”

Many people value the firm’s stance on corporate responsibility, which has a characteristically individualist slant. Our approach to corporate responsibility is earning increasing recognition, particularly in the graduate marketplace. It also contributes to the exceptional levels of employee satisfaction measured by our annual PULSE staff survey.

The response rate for PULSE continues to rise – up from 77 per cent to 86 per cent in the past two years. This reflects the fact that staff feel their views are listened to. In the 2006/07 survey, 91 per cent said they were proud to be associated with the firm and 91 per cent would recommend it as a good place to work, both unchanged on the previous year. The proportion saying they fully support the firm’s values rose from 94 per cent to 96 per cent, while the proportion saying the firm does an excellent job of keeping them informed remained constant at 92 per cent.