March 24, 2002

6th: Timpson

Shoe repair and key cutting
Annual sales £49m
Staff numbers 1,005
Male:female ratio 86:14
Under 35s 51%
Staff turnover 20%
Typical job - Benchperson
Starting salary £9,568

Timpson treats each member of staff as unique, and that is crucial to its success. The branches of the key cutting and shoe repair firm are almost entirely run by three workers or fewer, and their personal relationships with customers are crucial to winning business. The family-owned private firm treats its workers with the same care it asks them to pay to their work.

Just like the keys it cuts, Timpson is a one-off. John Timpson, chairman and chief executive, runs the chain of 320 branches that provide shoe and watch repairs, key cutting, engraving, dry cleaning and umbrellas. His great-grandfather started a shoe-making business in 1865, going public in 1926.

The firm was taken over by United Drapery Stores in the 1960s but Timpson bought back a majority share in 1983, sold the manufacturing side and started to build the services the stores now specialise in. The business is hands-on and so is he, with the help of his son James, the sales and marketing director. The two of them visit every store each year, and hold an annual staff barbecue in the Timpson family home.

The annual staff turnover is high at 20% but modest for the retail sector and there are many members of staff who have given decades of service. A remarkable 81% say they want to work there until they retire.

There is a genuine family feel to the business, and staff are cared for pastorally as well as financially. The firm offers loans to workers in debt and professional counselling services. One manager said he had spent half a day talking through a colleague’s marital problems, but “the boss would have encouraged me to spend even more time with her — that’s the way it is here”. Another young man said: “They sent me champagne on my 21st birthday, and guaranteed my earnings to help me get a mortgage. I hope that I am still working here when I reach 65.”

Women are encouraged to return after giving birth by being offered flexible work, career breaks and help with nurseries and child care, including financial support.

All staff receive a final salary pension and are encouraged to move up through the firm and promotions are all internal. Timpson has produced his own training manuals and the firm supports staff in taking college courses they propose.

If workers ask for grants for things like school football teams or for charity work, Timpson is happy to help. Staff are cared for at work with free toast and drinks to go in their Timpson mugs.

Timpson’s open-door policy is key to the staff’s respect and affection. One worker writes: “The company is run by a benevolent, compassionate character who insists that all senior managers are like-minded.” Another agrees, writing: “I feel lucky to have found such a good place to work. Thanks, Mr T.”