The firm, Baringa Partners, took the accolade at last night's gala award ceremony in London, knocking last year's winner Danone into second place. But while the result is a surprise to some, the consultancy has now actually had a top three placing for the last three years.
Jim Hayward, senior partner at Baringa, said: "We are truly honoured by this accolade. It reflects are commitment to supporting our people throughout their career. All new starters are provided with a ‘buddy' for the first year. All staff members are assigned a career adviser as part of the induction process and, thanks to our flat non-hierarchical structure, staff also have constant access to the management team. There is no distinction by rank or seniority."
Data reveals 69% of Best Workplaces employees are encouraged to balance their work and personal lives. This compares with the national average of 32% found by the CIPD. It also found the average saving in Best Workplaces from taking health and wellbeing seriously was more than £20,000 per 100 employees.
Williams Johnson, Great Place to Work Institute's managing director, said: Our audit of the best places to work in the UK has clearly found some significant trends. Our insight is that three common elements go into building better and more successful business - trust, camaraderie and pride; believing in the organisation and your management; enjoying the work that you do, and enjoying the people you work with.
Other notable companies in the UK top 10 include Microsoft (4th), Diageo (7th) and General Mills (8th). Microsoft was separately named Europe's Best Place to Work, beating ATP into second. Also in the European top 10 was Coca Cola (6th); SAS (7th) and PepsiCo (10th).
Fast food company McDonald's, which made its debut in the Top 50 Best Large Workplaces in Europe list, was the company most people wanted to work for - as judged by the 350,000 job applications it received in the last year. David Fairhurst, senior VP and chief people officer for McDonald's UK and Northern Europe, said: Understanding the link between progressive HR practices and business success is vital, and that's why this ranking is important to us."
