Being part of an exclusive club - The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies 2016

This week I attended the annual Best Companies Awards in London, it’s an event that’s been running for over 15 years now, but is one that’s new to me and SoloProtect. We entered the process last year for the first time, and were delighted to receive notification of our place within the ‘Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to work for 2016’, just prior to Christmas.

I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with the event – from the choice of venue, location, content and audio-visual facilities, and the food & entertainment – all were considered and well delivered. Everyone had a great time.

SoloProtect remains a small company, but we’re pleased that we continue to develop and grow – growth in 2015 that saw us reach a size where we could get involved with Best Companies Awards for the first time. Most pleasing of all for me however, is that being involved in these awards is a direct indicator of how engaged a business’ workforce is.

SoloProtect is now in its 13^th year, and as we mature we’ve managed to find and develop a great team across all areas of the business in the UK – a process we’re now replicating into our European office. The entire process hinges on a survey that’s sent to all staff – across all departments and job roles. How staff respond is then assessed, and scored by Best Companies, in order to reach a final score that determines a final placing.

On Wednesday evening we were placed 85^th – a great first attempt – and now the target invariably moves onto thinking about what we can do to further engage our team to help us improve on that next year. I’m genuinely excited by some of the things we’re doing within the business – and I hope the staff are too. A key to our momentum in the last 12 months has been moving to a new UK Head Office, and building a brand new EN50518 compliant, Alarm Receiving Centre to service SoloProtect customers. This is central to our ongoing objective to deliver comprehensive lone worker protection and class-leading support to clients.

All of which depends on the engagement of our staff. So I’d like to formally thank them for getting us this far, and continue to ask them to help us drive our business forward.