Now in its 16th year, the ‘Britain's Most Admired Companies’ awards offer a unique insight into the components of corporate reputation, by recognising key factors critical to business success. Winners are identified by means of peer review. Britain's top companies and their bosses are asked to assess their rivals - a revealing exercise that gets to the heart of what makes businesses succeed. Britain's Most Admired Companies awards celebrate that vital ingredient: what it takes to be admired in business.

‘Britain’s Most Admired Companies’ is a survey created and conducted by Prof. Mike Brown of Birmingham City Business School, the results of which are officially and exclusively published by Management Today. First conducted in 1994, this year’s results will appear in the December 2009 issue of MT.

What are the Britain’s Most Admired Companies Awards?
The awards are a peer review of corporate reputation. Canvassing the opinions of 200 of the UK’s largest companies, they are the only awards of their type in the UK.

When are the awards?
The gala dinner is held on December 1st in London. And the results feature will be published in the December 2009 issue of MT.

Methodology:
The awards are based on the results of the Britain's Most Admired Companies survey, conducted by Prof. Mike Brown and his team at Birmingham City Business School. Using responses from board level representatives, as well as analysts and City commentators, the survey is a peer review of corporate reputation, as seen by a company's most clued-up critics - its competitors. The survey covers more than 200 companies, the ten largest listed firms in each of 22 or more sectors. Analysts at leading City investment firms are also polled. Respondents rate the other companies in their own sector on each of nine performance criteria (see overleaf) on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being very poor, 10 being excellent).