New entries include New World Trading Company (NWTC) in 10th place, Peach Pubs ranked 45th, the Alchemist in 63rd place and BrewDog in 80th position.
And Oakman Inns & Restaurants, which ranked 42nd in 2016, has stormed into 8th place.
The list celebrates the best employers using measures such as staff engagement and training programmes, something all these employers have worked hard to improve and hone in the past year.
Oakman Inns has consistently achieved a ranking in the top 50 but this year the company won the ‘Best Improver Award’ in the mid-sized category with their new overall top 10 position. The firm was commended for its ‘Oakmanology’ training scheme and strong employee engagement. A high percentage of employees, 86%, said they appreciate their bosses’ openness and honesty and 85% find their jobs are good for personal growth.
Jill Scatchard, Head of HR at the pubco, said: “Much of this success is down to Oakmanology our in-house training scheme which is delivered via an online software system specifically designed for and by Oakman. We started work on it almost four years ago, and since we released it just over a year ago, our staff have overwhelmingly claimed it to be of great personal benefit (82%).”
Peter Borg-Neal, chief executive at Oakman Inns, said: “I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved. To reach the top 10 in ‘The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For’ is a credit to every one of our team.”
Commenting on his company's top 10 rating, Chris Hill, chief executive of NWTC, said it was down to an emphasis on strong leadership across the business combined with an innovative and fun development programme for all employees.
He said: “I am extremely proud of how much NWTC has grown over the last 12 months, not just with the increased number of sites but also from an operations perspective. We still pride ourselves on having talented management but also that each employee knows they are a crucial part of the company’s success.
"New World Trading Company is all about the people and as we continue to grow as a business this will remain an important focus. Good people are the success of a business. The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work is a perfect example of this.”
The Alchemist was particularly pleased with its placement on the list because the bar and restaurants firm was only set up in 2011.
The Alchemist managing director Simon Potts said: “We are so proud to have achieved a place in the Sunday Times Best Companies list. It's a huge deal for us having launched just six years ago. We currently have nine venues across the UK with four more planned openings for this year so will be continuing to hire great talent and hope this win will continue to attract those people to join us.”