May 12, 2026
By Harriet Williams
Best Companies has awarded Norman Broadbent its highest-ever accreditation, recognising the firm as a 3-Star ‘World Class’ organisation and company to work for.
The achievement marks a significant milestone in the firm’s cultural journey, following consecutive years of achieving 2-Star ‘Outstanding’ accreditation in both 2024 and 2025.
The accreditation is based entirely on employee feedback through Best Companies’ independent b-Heard survey, which measures workplace engagement across a broad range of factors including leadership, wellbeing, personal growth, values, recognition, team dynamics and overall workplace experience.
For Norman Broadbent, the recognition comes during a period of substantial growth and transformation for the firm.
Over the past year, the business has continued to expand internationally, strengthening its presence across the US, Middle East and Europe, while also completing the acquisition of Society Ltd in March 2026.
Periods of rapid expansion and integration can often place pressure on culture, communication and organisational cohesion. However, maintaining a strong, connected and transparent culture has remained a central priority throughout the firm’s evolution.
Alongside this growth, the firm has remained focused on creating transparency around its strategic direction, future ambitions and business priorities - helping employees understand how their individual contribution supports the wider success of the firm. That visibility, clarity and openness has played an important role in maintaining alignment, engagement and shared identity across the business during a period of significant expansion and change.
At the core of this approach is a belief that people remain the firm’s greatest differentiator.
As a relationship-led leadership advisory and executive search business, Norman Broadbent believes its culture directly shapes the quality of service delivered to clients and candidates alike. The firm views employee engagement not simply as an internal metric, but as a critical driver of long-term performance, collaboration and client outcomes.
Widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading workplace engagement standards, Best Companies works with organisations across multiple sectors to help measure, understand and improve employee experience and organisational culture. Accreditation levels are determined directly by employee responses, making the recognition a reflection of how people genuinely feel about working within the business.
Commenting on the accreditation, CEO Kevin Davidson said:
“Achieving this 3-Star accreditation is something we are incredibly proud of because it reflects the views of our people, particularly during a period of significant growth and change for the business. Over the past few years, we have expanded internationally, welcomed new colleagues, strengthened our sector capabilities and continued to evolve the firm. Throughout that journey, maintaining a strong culture and ensuring people feel connected, supported and aligned has remained hugely important to us.
This recognition belongs to the entire team. Our people are ultimately what differentiates Norman Broadbent, and we firmly believe that when our people thrive, the business thrives alongside them.”
The recognition further reinforces our long-term commitment to building a high-performance, collaborative and people-focused culture as the firm continues the next phase of its journey.