Kier Group has been ranked sixth in a listing of the most admired companies in the UK, beating McDonald’s Restaurants UK and property investment firm Derwent London.
Chemicals company Johnson Matthey was the overall winner in the poll, followed by fashion retailer Next, budget airline EasyJet, in third place, Dublin-based bookmakers Paddy Power, in fourth, and John Lewis Partnership, in fifth place.
The annual Britain’s Most Admired Companies list (BMAC), compiled by Birmingham City Business School for the magazine Management Today, asked Britain’s largest public companies in 24 sectors to evaluate their peers. It is considered one of the key industry barometers of British business success and confidence.
In the construction sector list, Kier was ranked first with a total score of 69.9, ahead of second placed Keller Group, with 63.2, and third placed Galliford Try, with 62.9.
The rest of the top 10 comprised Carillion (4th), Costain (5th), Laing O’Rourke (6th), Willmott Dixon (7th), Henry Boot (8th), Sir Robert McAlpine (9th) and Balfour Beatty (10th).
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Kier’s sixth place ranking in the overall BMAC list was a rise of 44 places on the previous year. The company, which operates in the UK, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Hong Kong, received praise for the quality of its management as well as its ability to attract, develop and retain top talent.
In addition, the construction sector came second in the BMAC sector totals, ahead of Transport, in third position, but behind the first-placed Chemicals sector.
The UK’s most admired leader was John Lewis Partnership’s managing director, Andy Street, who impressed his peers with his leadership savvy.
Street told Management Today that his success in the category was down to the accessibility of John Lewis. “We have anticipated the changes in our customers’ behaviour – their tastes and practices – and we’ve acted and stayed ahead of the curve.”
To compile the lists, authors Professor Mike Brown and Stuart Laverick, from Birmingham City Business School, quizzed up to 10 companies in each industry sector. Participants rated their sector rivals on a scale of 0 to 10 across nine different criteria.
Analysts at leading City investment firms were also polled and based on these scores, three rankings lists were complied: an overall list for 236 companies; a top 10 for on each criterion and league tables for each sector.
Professor Brown said: “As the economic outlook continues to improve slowly, it’s a year of cautious optimism. Firms know it’s not all Shangri-La and that there are still plenty of bumps in the road, but they are tentatively looking for growth opportunities all the same.”
In sectors where there were insufficient qualifying listed UK companies, selected privately owned firms, international businesses with significant presence in the UK, and publicly or employee-owned organisations were included. Respondents were also asked to name their most admired leader.
The full list of BMAC category winners will be revealed at an awards dinner in London on the evening of Tuesday, 2 December, and in the December issue of Management Today.
