TPP ‘one of best places to work’

Healthcare IT supplier TPP has been named first for pay and benefits and 38th overall in the Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For 2010.

The Leeds based IT supplier scored almost 90% when its employees were asked about their happiness with pay and benefits, the top score for this question.

Out of 103 employees, 36% earn more than £35,000. Software engineers earn £41,000 a year, which the Sunday Times said was fair compared with people in similar jobs elsewhere.

Perks include free bacon sandwiches and teacakes on Fridays and massages every other month. Employees also receive £200 to spend on their birthdays.

The firm was second overall for the ‘fair deal’ it offers its employees, ninth for ‘personal growth’ and 31st for ‘giving something back’.

The Sunday Times said the company gives £10,000 a year to charity and in January sent three employees on a trip to Eritrea to help a local school, providing solar power, computers and teacher training.

Drew Littler, company director, said: “TPP have witnessed a phenomenal growth in the past few years and I truly believe that we deserve a place on the Top 100 list.

" We are a dynamic company and are continually developing. To come 38th on the Sunday Times list in the first year we’ve entered the competition is fantastic and we’re determined to improve on this next year.”

The Sunday Times listing shows that the company recorded pre-tax profits of £0.3m on sales of £13.6m.

The newspaper said the company increased its revenues last year and 88% of employees are excited about where it is going while 84% are not unduly worried about the future. Staff find work stimulating (85%) and 81% said it was a good place to grow.

Beth Loker, a clinical data analyst who has been with the company for four years, said: “It’s a fantastic place to work. I love it here. Everyone here is really enthusiastic and clearly passionate about what we do.”

The business invests £2,000 a head a year on staff training and after a year of service can attend training courses anywhere in the world from the JavaOne conference in San Francisco to Microsoft Tech-Ed in Berlin.

Dan Adams, who has worked for TPP for three and a half years as a clinical system analyst, said: “The responsibilities TPP have given me are the part I love most about working for them. They really foster the development of their staff and the bacon butties each Friday are another bonus.”

The firm got lower scores for ‘wellbeing’, coming 99th overall in this area, and staff can feel under too much pressure to concentrate (60% positive).

The Sunday Times said that this year its listing, now in its eighth year, covered 37,597 employees across 571 small and medium sized enterprises.

Employees complete anonymous surveys containing 70 questions covering their role, whether they feel valued and rewarded and whether they believe in the values of the company and its leaders. The best company overall was SoftCat, an IT sales company.