Building a consistent and values-led workplace culture can be a particular challenge for businesses with bigger workforces and multiple sites. We profile the achievements of shortlisted companies in this year’s award for workplace culture at larger employers, sponsored by NatWest.
Charles Taylor Assistance
Charles Taylor Assistance, part of the Charles Taylor Group, provides global medical and travel assistance services, supporting travellers at their most vulnerable moments. When the pandemic halted travel, followed by a sudden rebound in demand, the business needed to grow rapidly while protecting and strengthening its culture. Staff numbers went up by two-thirds in just three years, and CTA needed to reinforce company values, reduce turnover and sustain excellent service levels for clients.
Working alongside managers, the HR team introduced a wide range of initiatives to embed a culture of care, responsibility and collaboration. Recognition was central, with awards, CEO newsletters and peer nominations creating a culture of appreciation. Engagement was boosted through surveys, idea-sharing forums and open discussions with leadership. Transparency was addressed with clear salary bandings and progression criteria, and CTA offered more flexibility to employees through tailored arrangements.
The company expanded its wellbeing champions scheme tenfold, running mental health support sessions with the Samaritans, and hosting vulnerability forums. Staff were offered new development pathways, from professional certifications to secondments and leadership training, supported by innovative learning methods. Employee engagement has increased significantly while turnover has reduced by 40%. More employees are being promoted internally and gaining new qualifications, and customer satisfaction and client loyalty are market-leading.
Circle Health Group
Circle Health Group (CHG) was created in 2020 from the merger of two private healthcare organisations with different workplace cultures. With 12,000 employees, the new business faced high turnover, low morale, and a lack of trust. Although it had created a unifying philosophy, the real challenge was bringing this to life and embedding a consistent, values-driven workplace culture. CHG needed to demonstrate that it believed in its people through recognition, engagement and development.
It did this in a series of ways. One solution was to amplify employee voice through the annual “b-Heard” engagement survey, accompanied by local action plans and a new employee voice forum. Leadership visibility was strengthened through informal communication and initiatives such as Chat CHG. The company launched an in-house academy, career hub and professional development pathways, increasing its apprenticeship levy utilisation considerably over three years. The RISE national awards and the ongoing Recognising & Rewarding scheme showed employees that they are valuable.
Engagement scores have risen significantly, culminating in CHG ranking fourth in the Best Big Companies to Work For list. The number of staff reporting pride in the organisation or saying they feel valued has also increased. As a result of higher engagement, staff turnover has dropped considerably and reliance on agency staff has more than halved. The company has rebuilt trust and established a culture where people feel recognised, supported and proud to belong.
Greater Anglia in partnership with JSX Communications
Greater Anglia has 3,000 employees delivering 1,300 train services daily, consistently topping the train operating companies league table. However, in 2023 the business recognised that it needed to maintain momentum and protect its team spirit while navigating post-Covid pressures, industrial action, and cost-of-living strains. The leadership team wanted to strengthen consistency, engagement and belonging, while also improving internal communication and the overall employee experience.
The solution was a comprehensive culture and communications refresh, anchored in a new purpose of ‘Giving people greater journeys’. Together with JSX Communications, Greater Anglia came up with a Team Code – a clear set of behaviours defining how colleagues work together. Unlike a traditional list of values, the Team Code was co-created with staff, ensuring authenticity and resonance. It was embedded across recruitment, performance, development and recognition, shaping daily behaviours and becoming the thread running through all people initiatives.
Greater Anglia partnered with specialists to gather honest insight via interviews, focus groups and surveys, before testing the draft code with colleagues at a Your Voice Live event. A wider programme supported the launch, including a refreshed employee value proposition, new recognition schemes, immersive manager training, and an internal communications brand to drive clarity and consistency. Since the refresh, engagement has risen to well above the industry benchmark. Recognition has flourished, with over 600 Team Code e-cards shared monthly. The company has also launched a Team Code Maturity Model to ensure these values can continue to flourish moving forward.
LV=
Insurance company LV= has faced three cultural challenges in recent years: sustaining a united culture in a flexible and hybrid environment, supporting colleagues’ wellbeing during the cost-of-living crisis, and delivering on the new CEO’s vision of a truly inclusive workplace. With teams spread across sites with different working patterns, maintaining cohesion required a fresh approach to communication, engagement and events. Colleagues also needed practical financial and wellbeing support, while the business sought to embed a culture where everyone could bring their whole selves to work.
The solution was a comprehensive programme shaped by four values: Trusted, Courageous, Curious and Inclusive. Five colleague-led networks, including a new wellbeing group, lead action plans that address diversity, equity, inclusion and wellbeing priorities. These range from launching a menopause policy and sponsoring Pride events to expanding Mental Health First Aiders, refreshing wellbeing spaces, and introducing socio-economic inclusion measures.
The company has introduced quarterly sentiment surveys rather than the previous annual survey, empowering managers and teams to make improvements. There are regular meetings held by the CEO, new mentoring opportunities, and colleague events to reinforce transparency and connection across the organisation. The benefits to engagement and participation have been significant. Diversity and inclusion data sharing has gone up markedly, while apprenticeships have doubled and gender balance has improved. Women now form 50% of the executive team below CEO, and attrition has fallen overall.
Norgine
After more than a century as a family-owned pharmaceutical business, in 2023 Norgine transitioned to private equity ownership under Goldman Sachs. In an industry where culture directly impacts patient outcomes, the challenge was to design a values-led, inclusive, performance-driven culture that could unite colleagues globally while addressing gaps around communication, recognition and connection to purpose. A global engagement survey was launched to gain insights into what employees looked for from the business.
Grassroots ambassadors championed employee voice across all regions, and this feedback was embedded into action planning. An employee hackathon, for example, was launched to drive change based on colleague experience. At different points in the employee lifecycle, Norgine could introduce cultural touchpoints – onboarding via iJOIN, inclusion through iBELONG workshops, continuous performance dialogue with iPERFORM, recognition through the Kudos peer-to-peer platform, and leadership development via iLEAD. Sustainability and community impact were also part of the wider strategy, including projects delivering 700 hours of volunteer time.
The 2025 engagement survey showed positive, measurable progress, voluntary turnover has decreased, and over 1,200 acts of recognition have been shared. Leadership capability has grown, with more than nine in 10 managers completing iLEAD and reporting stronger confidence. Norgine’s renewed culture has underpinned the successful launch of a paediatric oncology franchise – proof that an inclusive, purpose-led workplace delivers tangible patient outcomes.
ODEON Cinemas UK & Ireland
After the pandemic, ODEON faced a powerful opportunity but also a pressing challenge – to rebuild its workplace culture. The workforce had become fragmented across different geographies, roles and expectations, with five different generations with their own expectations around communication and wellbeing. ODEON needed to build a unified yet adaptable culture that would overcome gaps in connection consistency. With a workforce made up of both salaried and hourly paid colleagues, working everything from full-time office roles to flexible cinema shifts, its challenge was to create a culture that worked for everyone.
The company launched the Build Your Future framework, which outlines career pathways, development opportunities and inclusive leadership expectations. To improve connection, it launched Spotlight, a digital communications and engagement platform powered by WorkVivo. This connects colleagues in real time so they can share stories and celebrate recognition. Pride Day in 2025 was a shared event, for example – a live broadcast where employees contributed personal stories, there were panel discussions, and inclusive messaging across all cinemas and offices. The recognition scheme was reimagined, known as You Make Movies Better – this is a peer- and manager-led programme that celebrates colleagues with personalised rewards.
Since these initiatives, ODEON has recorded the lowest levels of colleague turnover in UK and Ireland history, and colleagues have become “culture creators” rather than participants. This has led to increased collaboration and curiosity across all functions and countries, smarter problem-solving and better performance. By giving colleagues the tools, clarity, and trust to shape their own experience, the company has built a resilient and inclusive culture.
Places for People
Over the past three years, social enterprise Places for People has intentionally cultivated an inclusive culture through the creation of six inclusion and belonging communities: Cultural Diversity, Dis-Ability, LGBTQ+, Gender, Mental Health, and Parents & Carers. These colleague-led groups have been instrumental in shaping a purposeful, values-driven culture where colleagues feel seen, heard, and empowered to thrive. The aim is to provide safe spaces where under-represented groups can connect, share experiences and drive positive change. Each group is led by colleagues with lived experience and supported by senior leadership sponsors, including members of the executive team.
The communities have amplified colleague voice and driven tangible change. For example, the Parents & Carers Community identified key gaps in flexible working and carer leave support and their feedback led to the launch of a refreshed carers policy and the introduction of the MyFlex policy, allowing colleagues to agree on bespoke flexible working arrangements with their line managers. The Dis-Ability community has directly influenced the development of a new neuro-inclusion strategy, launched alongside a new neuro-inclusion hub. The LGBTQ+ Community helped to plan and host PfP’s first-ever Pride event, and the Cultural Diversity Community worked with leadership to create a reverse mentoring programme.
These communities have transformed the organisation’s internal culture, and their membership continues to grow. They are embedded into PfP’s EDI strategy and aligned with wider strategic and ESG priorities, influencing everything from recruitment to leadership development. There are more than 20 different businesses under the PfP Group umbrella, and the inclusion communities have brought together a diverse and dispersed workforce, turning it into a culture that is purpose-led and transformative.
TP
TP UK knew that it had great people and good intentions, but engagement felt patchy and communication did not land in a consistent way, particularly with staff who were working remotely or under strict client restrictions. The digital business services company wanted to create a more inclusive, equitable and empowered workplace where everyone felt connected and their voices felt heard. This needed to go beyond one-off engagement efforts and surface-level fixes, truly connecting all employees.
The solution was a multi-layered strategy focused on employee voice, transparent communication, leadership accountability and inclusive culture-building. TP embedded continuous listening through daily sentiment surveys, social audits and monthly employee forums – the insights from this now shape how the company leads, supports and develops its staff. There were “You said, we did” updates, CEO town halls and an AI-driven virtual assistant to support employee experience. Employee networks were rebranded and supported to launch inclusive campaigns, while colleagues could access wellbeing support 24 hours a day. Power BI dashboards helped TP to turn insight into action and track improvements in engagement, retention and wellbeing.
Such insights have directly shaped initiatives such as the new career pathways framework and inclusive benefits review. Silos have been broken down, and employee attendance at town halls is high. The virtual assistant has recorded thousands of interactions, saving considerable resource hours for the HR team. Mental health resources have seen an increase in usage, offering personalised support, and there has been a dramatic reduction in absence and monthly attrition. The company no longer just talks about culture, but actively shapes it every day with its employees.
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