Top 100 employer spot for Boston-based business

Pictured (from left) are Adam Charity, David Campbell, Mat Charity, Mark Porcher, Lee Melton, Lily Charity, Kevin Charity, Edward Walsh, Mark Chapman, and Chris Moores.

A Boston-based business is celebrating after being listed among the top 100 employers in the UK.

The Coaching Inn Group has been ranked 44th in the Sunday Times’ latest annual Top 100 Companies to Work For poll.

The list is based on a confidential survey of employees and is open to businesses which have between 250 and 2,000 employees (there are separate lists for smaller and larger firms and not-for-profit organisations).

The rundown was announced at a gala event held at London’s Battersea Evolution.

Pictured (from left) are Nick Rodrigues, from The Sunday Times, with The Coaching Inn Group's Kevin Charity and Lee Melton.

Kevin Charity, chief executive officer of The Coaching Inn Group, said he was ‘chuffed to bits’ with the results, especially as they are based on what employees think.

“We were just hoping to get in the list, but to find we were number forty-four is amazing and demonstrates that we’re punching well above our weight,” he said.

The Coaching Inn Group operates 17 hotels and coaching inns in market towns across the country including the White Hart Hotel, in Boston,

It was second in Lincolnshire, behind Lincoln’s Lindum Group at number 36. At the number one spot was marketing firm MVF, of London.

Speaking more about the business’ inclusion on the list, Mr Charity said: “We’ve become a very people-focussed business over the past three years, just constantly maintaining that culture, keeping on improving and looking at what we can do better and how we as a management team can serve our people – that’s been the key.”

Examples of this in practice include: the Rising Stars Programme, which encourages team members to advance in their careers by gaining qualifications; the Chef Academy, which, does the same in among the kitchen teams, but also organises visits to market gardens, farms, and other quality-food sources; and the Happy Nappy Benefit, which allows either ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’ to receive extra funding for the three months after a new arrival to help cover the cost of nappies and other essentials.

Mr Charity said such benefits reflected the group’s ongoing appreciation towards its ‘highly valued’ and ‘enthusiastic’ team.