The Most Admired Company in the UK

Next, HSBC and Tesco are among the most admired companies in Britain, according to a new survey compiled by Management Today.

The study revealed a shortlist of 24 companies selected by their peers as leaders in their own particular field to compete for the title of Britain's Most Admired Company.

The shortlist for Britain's Most Admired Business Leader, which was won by BP's chief executive Lord Browne for the last three years, included Marks and Spencers' retiring chief executive Luc Vandevelde.

BP also made the shortlist for the most admired company. The survey included one leading company from each major sector with Diageo representing the restaurant, pubs and breweries sector, and GlaxoSmithKline for the health and household sector. However the survey also revealed Granada was this year's least admired company in the media industry, while Royal & Sun Alliance was at the bottom of the beleaguered insurance sector. With Railtrack no longer in the running, Eurotunnel took on the mantle of the least admired company in transport.

Britain's ten largest companies in 24 sectors were asked to evaluate their peers, rating each company on a scale of one to ten. Analysts at 15 leading investment companies were also polled. Performance was rated against nine criteria: quality of management, financial soundness, ability to attract develop and retain top talent, quality of goods and services, value as a long term investment, capacity to innovate, quality of marketing, community and environmental responsibility, and use of corporate assets.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.