At an awards ceremony in Battersea Park last week, Williams and Co. was announced as number 76 on The Sunday Times "100 best companies to work for" competition.

From its small beginnings in Portsmouth in 1972 as a local Plumbing and Heating Trade Merchant, Williams and Co. has expanded to 36 trade counters and three regional fulfilment centres across England.

Last year the merchant made it on to the London Stock Exchange's top 1,000 companies to inspire Europe, and announced at the end of 2018 that it had achieved Two Star "Outstanding" accreditation status from The Sunday Times "100 Best Companies to work for" competition.

Managing Director Ray Stafford said: “I can’t make this a great place to work. Along with colleagues in the senior leadership team, I can make mistakes which wreck the workplace culture, but even our best work will not make it great. The very most that the senior team can achieve is to create an environment in which everyone else can make it a great place to work.

“Workplace culture comes from a thousand little interactions with team colleagues and how your line manager treats you when you are going through a tough time, whether your ideas are listened to, and lots of other, relatively small things which collectively can make or ruin every day. Everyone contributes, but the supervisors, team leaders, assistant managers and branch and department managers are amongst the most critical in making or breaking the workplace culture.”

Pictured: Staff at the Croydon branch toast Williams & Co.'s success.