Happy staff means happy customers, which makes money

The down-to-earth management methods of Henry Engelhardt, the founder and chief executive of UK insurance group Admiral, seem a world apart from his contemporaries. Nor do any other companies have a « Ministry of Fun », a team dedicated to organising weekly social activities for staff. « If people like what they do, they will do it better. And if people are unhappy at work, it doesn’t help you do those things. » The results of such an approach appear to be twofold. Firstly, Admiral is the only company that has made all 14 of the annual 100 Best UK Companies To Work For reports. And secondly, it is one of only two companies on the FTSE 100 to have reported 10 straight years of higher profits and dividends. Today the company is worth £4bn, and has more than 5,000 staff, all of whom – including those in its Indian office – automatically get shares.