From giving staff bonuses and cost of living payments, to free flu jabs and five volunteering days, Patrick Sewell, managing director of Top 50 Indie Sewell on the go, gives some insights into why his business was recognised this year by the Sunday Times as one of the UK’s Best Places to Work.
Here at Sewell on the go, we’ve just been named one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work for 2024.
It’s an amazing honour that out of the many thousands of companies in the country, we’ve made it onto the list, and the best thing about it is that it’s based on feedback showing our people are happy at work.
Without our team on board, we wouldn’t have a business. Our stores are known for their warm welcome and friendly staff, and the sense of camaraderie in our store teams is great to see. There’s always hot competition for the Store of the Year prize at our annual Star Awards!
And what else makes our staff happy?
Firstly, we help them develop their career. Across the whole Sewell Group, we delivered 15,000 hours of training in 2023, a £500,000 investment into our people. For staff that show leadership potential, we have a development programme that helps people gain the skills to progress into management. We like to promote from within, and spotting talent early is good for both our staff and our business.
We also believe in rewarding our staff, and not just with promotions. We pay above the National Living Wage, give all staff financial bonuses, and over the past couple of years we’ve made special ‘cost of living’ payments to ensure our people don’t have to worry about rising prices. We also provide benefits that really help with daily life, such as a credit union saving scheme, access to a will writing service, free flu jabs for families, and gifts for celebrations such as weddings and new babies.
It’s also important that our team are able to support causes that are dear to them. We give all staff five volunteering days a year, which they can use to support a charity or project of their choice.
The result of this is positive, motivated and productive people, who want to come into work each day. This makes for better retention of talent, easier recruitment, and satisfied customers. What’s not to be happy about?”
Patrick Sewell, managing director, Sewell on the go
