Sturdy middle-class companies
Companies which provide good service to their customers, products which have some intrinsic worth, and which have employees who seem to be happy to be there rather than just on their way to their next job.
Feel free to add more in the comments and I’ll update the page. Can we get a big enough list so that most (all?) of our consumer needs are met by this type of organisation? Banks might be a problem….
- John Lewis/Waitrose
- Dyson
- Marks and Spencer
- B&Q
UPDATE HISTORY: B&Q added by popular demand. Particularly interested in why they’re better than Homebase.
[…] And my question is this: John Lewis and Dyson and now Marks and Sparks all seem to be pretty successful. People like the brands and seem to like working for them as well. There is even a whiff of patriotic pride in the way some of these organisations work (and, fascinatingly, it doesn’t seem to matter that Dyson no longer make their machines in Britain). So, given all that, why is this type of company still in a minority? Why don’t more companies run this way? It seems to be awfully hard work running a big, rich company which nobody likes and which only wankers want to work for (are you listening, HSBC?). So why aren’t there more sturdy middle-class companies? Anyway, to promote their work, I’m building a list of them here. […]
Pingback by Dadblog » Dyson: middle-class in a nice way — April 15, 2008 @ 8:47 am
Do they have to be British? Because a lot of those large, sensible family owned German engineering companies pass that test for me. Places like Bosch, Miele and Carl Zeiss.
In the UK, B&Q might be another candidate. First to move to FSC wood without crowing about it, employing the over 60s, people i’ve met seem to like working there.
Comment by Andy — April 24, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
I’ll second Andy on Bosch (if eligible) and B+Q. The latter’s contrast with say, Homebase, is instructive. This shows up particularly in staff. At B+Q you can often find people who have had some experience of your requirements and aren’t just underpaid, bored and loan-battling youth.
Comment by matt — May 8, 2008 @ 7:09 pm
L, Thought you might be interested in this, if you haven’t seen it already. Via Jemima K.
http://tinyurl.com/68yt4k
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Comment by Matt — June 3, 2008 @ 7:36 pm