The Sunday Times has published its annual index of the top 100 companies who offer the best places to work.

And despite expectations that he might not be overly concerned with a woke approach to work, the report raises a glass to journalist Jeremy Clarkson and his Cotswold brewery venture, Hawkstone Brewery.

Powered by WorkL, the survey identifies 500 organisations which are worth the attention of career-seekers. The nationwide trawl works from the basis of a 26-question survey which asks people working within companies for the inside story on their workplace.

The results are then filtered through the criteria of reward and recognition, instilling pride, information sharing, empowerment, wellbeing and job satisfaction.

Acknowledging the best workplaces for women, LGBTQIA+ community, disabled employees, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers and wellbeing, some prominent names emrged in the top ranks, with David Lloyd Clubs, CGI IT UK and Octopus Energy among the top 10 best employers in the Very Big organisation category.

Easyjet Holidays and Dishoom were ranked as some of the top 10 best among big organisations and YuLife insurance provider and Iconic Smiles dental group were celebrated in the medium and small organisation categories, respectively.

The results also namechecked London based outdoor advertising company VIOOH, which was awarded the Best Places to Work Spotlight Award for women, given its offering of a £5,000 post-baby return-to-work bonus and an annual "life admin" day to staff.

Meanwhile, Clarion, the Leeds solicitor, earned the Best Places to Work Spotlight Award for employees aged 16 to 34 and Manchester-based chain Dakota Hotels won the Best Places to Work Spotlight Award for LGBTQIA+ employees, while Dishoom scooped the Spotlight Award for ethnic minority employees.

The newspaper said that the survey results brought the demands of Gen Z employees (born between around 1996 and 2009) into focus.

"They are a familiar focus of work-related digs, with Gen Z employees branded "quiet quitters" who do the bare minimum in their jobs. Whether they love their Gen Z workers' fresh take on workplace politics or love to moan about them, it is a state of affairs that leaves business leaders scratching their heads over how best to engage their youngest employees," the survey said.

The analysis of 70,000 organisations by the employee experience specialist WorkL pointed to the simple answer of making this employee group happier.

Gen Z workers are the least happy of all age groups, the report said, given that they "feel disconnected from their colleagues and employers, do not have confidence in their managers and 29 per cent are looking for the exit door."

WFH enforced by Covid and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis also caused this demographic's mental health to suffer.

Lord Mark Price, founder of WorkL and former managing director of Waitrose and deputy chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: "They were trapped in their bedrooms and now they are going to work and not spending lots of time with work colleagues face to face and are having to learn remotely.

"They are not having the opportunities that other generations have had to learn through osmosis and build relationships, and that is having an impact on their wellbeing. They feel detached. Some Gen Z employees have told us they started with a company three or four months ago and have never met anybody face to face."

Companies best tackling these challenges, the survey showed, are successful at getting the youngest demographic of workers on board: "Enlightened policies go further than the odd carton of oat milk in the office fridge. At Worthing-based Bird & Blend Tea, for instance, co-founders Krisi Smith and Mike Turner know all 164 employees by name and initiatives including paid volunteering days and a monthly tea allowance make life at work feel sweet."

Restaurant chain Dishoom keeps staff on track with a running club, while a tortoise called Donna Shello is a pet project for staff at the electric motor developer Evolito.

Jeremy Clarkson added brewing to his business portfolio three years ago when he teamed up with the family-owned Cotswold Brewing Company to launch Hawkstone lager, which uses barley grown at the journalist's 1,000-acre farm on the border of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. 

Sales to last March saw £7.8m after Clarkson subsequently increased his investment. Fellow fellow directors and shareholders include chairman Hugh van Cutsem, who is a family friend of Princes William and Harry.