Good managers are the key to success
By Carryn Dewing
Sliderobes chairman Mick McAleese believes the key to his company’s success has been refining recruitment skills and learning to identify a “good manager from a hole in the head”.

Article 10 sales force gets extra help
By Catherine Woods
Entrepreneurial design agency Article 10 is improving its sales team's client presentations to ensure the business stays afloat as the economy slows down.

Female-friendly workplace helps staff retention
By Catherine Woods
Creating female-friendly offices and forming a special support group are two initiatives IT services specialist Connect has undertaken to boost the number of women in its workforce.

Tackling staff issues The Listening Company's way
By Catherine Woods
The Listening Company must be doing something right; CEO and entrepreneur Neville Upton says during the past four years not one of his 27 project managers has left.

The science of hiring good employees
By Rebecca Burn-Callander
There’s no precise formula to hiring good people,” says Jason Stockwood, international MD of Match.com. “But I do have one piece of advice.”

Internet franchisor's recruitment advice
By Kate Pritchard
Entrepreneur Nigel Botterill has just hired an MD to take over the day-to-day running of thebestof.co.uk, his £7m-turnover franchising business. But finding the right man for the job was a tough task: “It took me nine months to replace myself.”

Oriel shares the wealth with staff
By Catherine Woods
Oriel Securities CEO Simon Bragg says the best way to get the most out of employees is to give them a stake in the business.

Millionaire plumber bans builder's bum
By Kate Pritchard
Charlie Mullins has built a £17m-turnover plumbing business and counts celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey and floppy-haired actor Hugh Grant among his clients. So what’s his secret? “I set strict rules of appearance for my employees. No one wants a sloppy bastard with his arse hanging out his pants wandering around their house.”

Office gossip: the cure
By John Timpson
Office gossip is the bane of many offices and workplaces. Here's the remedy, from Britain's favourite cobbler, John Timpson.

Boffins bring in the bucks
By Kate Pritchard
Winton Capital is no ordinary investment firm full of brash, city-slicker fund managers. This “managed futures adviser” employs researchers with PhDs in subjects such as theoretical physics and actuarial science. And it’s raking in millions.