Blenheim Gains ‘one to Watch’ Status in Best Companies List

The lists are compiled using anonymous employee surveys and are designed to measure levels of workplace engagement.

‘One to Watch’ accreditation is a special status awarded to organisations where workplace engagement shows promising signs for the future.

The lists and accreditations are recognised as the standard in workplace engagement and were first published in 2001 in The Sunday Times.

The Oxfordshire UNESCO World Heritage Site has made a commitment to be among the UK Top 100 Companies as one of the 10 key goals in its 10-year development programme.

“This is the first year we have taken part in the scheme and we’re extremely pleased to have achieved ‘One to Watch’ status,” said Blenheim’s Head of Human Resources, Sarah Morris.

“It’s an amazing initial step and our aim now is to build on this success and be recognised as being one of the UK’s very best workplaces.

“We have set ourselves the goal of achieving this within 10 years but I am determined we will get their sooner than that and the entire management team here at Blenheim are committed to making it one of the most forward-thinking and enjoyable places to work,” she added.

The Blenheim Estate employs more than 400 staff, with another 220 working as part of their in-house catering team.

Workplace engagement aims to identify how staff really feel about their jobs and seek ways to improve them. In turn this makes people enjoy their work more, improves job retention and attracts top talent.

“We have implemented a number of strategies this year including a wellbeing programme, an apprenticeship scheme and launched the Marlborough Academy focusing on individual staff development,” said Sarah.

“Additionally, we have increased our holiday entitlement to 25 days and, as of January 2018, our lowest paid staff will receive a minimum of £8.20 per hour. This is just the start and we have other exciting plans for 2018,” she added.