Great Place to Work® Institute UK has added firmus energy, which supplies natural gas to homes and businesses across Ballymena, to its annual "Best Small Workplaces" list. The official results, which were released to readers of the Financial Times and The Guardian and unveiled at a ceremony evening at Plaisterers’ Hall in London, places firmus energy at No. 10 in the list of Best Small Places to work in the UK.
The Best Workplaces Programme is the largest study of workplace excellence, with more than 1.8 million employees involved across 40 countries. The methodology for the U.K. Best Workplaces rankings is based on a rigorous evaluation from an employee "Trust Index" survey, and a "Culture Audit" management survey. Employees are asked to evaluate their company's performance based on five key areas: credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie.
The award itself is more than just a prestigious ranking. It is recognition of the many benefits and opportunities firmus energy offers to staff, extending far beyond the remuneration package.
Mark Prentice, general manager for firmus energy, commented: “This prestigious accolade is further testament to our corporate values of clarity, empathy and integrity and our commitment to putting them at the heart of everything we do. At firmus energy, we strive to provide high-calibre professional developmental opportunities, quality of life, job security and competitive pay and benefits for our employees. This award is a huge vote of confidence from our employees as their views account for ⅔ of the final score, making them the ultimate judge of our overall ranking.
“These difficult times have affected us all, but I am proud to say that our 60-strong team has remained extremely positive, continuing to work hard to establish a culture of respect, pride and dedication.”
Employees' feedback from the Great Place to Work survey further demonstrates firmus energy’s commitment to providing a great place to work:
‘Everyone is really friendly and always go out of their way to help – even if it’s not their job.
‘Management have an open door policy. If you need to speak to them you can!’
‘It’s like one big family. They really do care about the well being of the staff and want us to enjoy coming in to work every day’
Mr Prentice explained that the company runs a number of initiatives that have contributed to firmus energy’s designation as a great employer. He said: “Our reputation is very strong and continuing to grow. In the last year alone, we have created 18 new staff positions and received more than 1200 applications for these posts.
“We have taken the unique step of putting every one of our staff through a City & Guilds energy qualification. This not only gives employees a clear awareness of energy efficiency, but will also help us provide our customers with comprehensive energy advice.
“firmus energy also offers supported volunteering opportunities for staff, a company sports and social club as well as discounted gym membership, health and well-being talks and many other opportunities. We are also linked closely with Business in the Community, through which we develop our quality CSR programmes.
“We are delighted that our team feel firmus energy is a great place to work and firmly believe this will filter through to the service they deliver for our customers,” he added.
firmus energy supplies natural gas to both domestic and business customers in 10 local towns and cities across Northern Ireland and has recently started supplying businesses in Greater Belfast. The company also holds an electricity supply licence and is currently the only energy company currently offering ‘dual fuel’ contracts to Industrial customers across Northern Ireland.