Now in its 21st year, MT's ‘Britain's Most Admired Companies’ awards offer a unique insight into the real factors behind corporate reputation. Winners are identified by peer review: Britain's top companies and their bosses are asked to assess their rivals, a revealing exercise that really gets to the heart of what makes businesses succeed. Britain's Most Admired Companies awards celebrate that vital ingredient: what it takes to be admired by your closest rivals.

What are the Britain’s Most Admired Companies Awards?

The awards are a peer review of corporate reputation. Canvassing the opinions of 200 of the UK’s largest companies, they are the only awards of their type in the UK.

Methodology

In conjunction with Birmingham City Business School, MT asked Britain’s largest public companies in 25 sectors to evaluate their peers. Each sector comprises a maximum of 10 companies. Using nine criteria, participants rated their sector rivals on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 = poor, 5 = average, 10 = excellent). Analysts at leading City investment firms were also polled. On the basis of these scores, three rankings were arrived at: all 238 companies; top 10 overall on each criterion; and league tables in each sector. In sectors where there are insufficient qualifying listed UK companies, selected privately owned firms, international businesses with significant presence in the UK, and publically or employee-owned organisations were included. Respondents were also asked to name their most admired leader (PDF). Research by Professor Michael Brown, Birmingham City Business School, and Stuart Laverick.