Red Carnation second in Sunday Times' 100 Best Companies

Red Carnation Hotel Collection has moved up to second place in the Sunday Times' 100 Best Companies To Work For, as a total of 13 hospitality companies made the list.

Red Carnation climbed six places, up from eighth in 2014. It is the fourth time the company has been included in the list, having entered in 2012 at 71, moving up to 26 in 2013.

This year the 17-strong boutique hotel group was also presented with the award for Best Improver.

Meanwhile, contract caterer Connect Catering managed a similarly impressive rise, up from ninth to sixth, and fellow foodservice firm Vacherin burst straight into the top 10, in 10th place.

The full list of hospitality companies to make the top 100 (with last year's place in brackets) were:

Red Carnation Hotel Collection - 2 (8)

Connect Catering - 6 (9)

Vacherin - 10 (NEW)

Hawksmoor - 12 (21)

Oakman Inns & Restaurants - 28 (NEW)

Wyboston Lakes - 35 (69)

New Inventive Bar Company - 78 (84)

Bartlett Mitchell - 81 (76)

Las Iguanas - 86 (NEW)

HIT Training - 88 (92)

T(n)S Catering Management - 93 (NEW)

Corbin & King - 97 (NEW)

Jonathan Raggett, managing director of Red Carnation Hotel Collection, said: "We are truly delighted to be recognised as Best Improver and to be ranked as overall number two in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For. We believe our service proposition is what sets us apart, that is our loyalty programme, and clearly it's our people who deliver that. If they're not happy or don't have a clear vision of what the company stands for, it falls down.

"At Red Carnation Hotels, the care, passion and enthusiasm come from the top and we couldn't hope for a more hands-on, thoughtful, incredibly passionate and interested leader than Bea Tollman. The collection is a reflection of her lifetime of dedication to offering the finest that a hotel can offer its guests, and its people. The drive and inspiration for those of us involved in the business comes from her."

Commenting on his company's entry into the top 10, Vacherin managing director Mark Philpott said: "We were bowled over to have achieved such a high placing and it's very warming to know that our team feels so positive about the company. We've always tried to create a family feel to the business and the team really is at the centre of everything we do, and therefore are the most important part of our company. One of the biggest personal motivators for me in running Vacherin is the privilege of working with a group of such exceptionally talented people; in the very tough London market we operate in, I think they are unparalleled.

"We still know everybody by name and take a real interest in them as people, and not just as workers. Our annual Life Plan sessions with every employee help us work with them on career and life priorities, and if we can assist them in achieving some personal aspirations away from the workplace too, we help where we can."

Caterer Bartlett Mitchell came in at 81, its third time in the list, in a year in which the company grew in annual turnover by 50% and doubled its workforce.

Now in its 15th year, the Best Companies list is compiled from staff questionnaires that include views on colleagues, managers, pay, conditions and work/life balance.

This year, 226 companies employing between 250 and 3,500 people entered.

The Sunday Times also published its 11th annual list of the Top 100 Big Companies To Work For.