ALA Insurance has been named among The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2026 after the Malton-based GAP insurance provider recorded employee survey scores above industry and global averages while maintaining a 4.9-star Trustpilot rating from more than 22,000 verified customer reviews.
The insurer was included in the rankings for small organisations and received an “excellent” rating across all award categories. The recognition follows anonymous employee feedback collected through The Sunday Times Best Places to Work programme.
The Sunday Times rankings are based on employee surveys conducted with more than 200,000 workers across 25 sectors in the UK. Research partner WorkL assesses organisations using measures that include reward and recognition, empowerment, wellbeing, job satisfaction, information sharing and instilling pride.
To qualify for accreditation, organisations must achieve a minimum overall engagement score of 70%. The programme reported that employee engagement among this year’s winners was 7% higher than the average recorded across WorkL’s UK database of 45,000 organisations.
ALA Insurance said its results exceeded both industry and global averages, while employee feedback cited trust, care and collaboration within the business.
The company linked employee satisfaction to its customer service performance, noting that it holds a 4.9-star Trustpilot rating based on more than 22,000 verified reviews.
Founded in 2005, ALA Insurance specialises in Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance.
The company was one of 195 small organisations included in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2026 rankings.
Insurance employs 15 people and offers benefits including free unlimited therapy, access to insurance products, equal quarterly bonuses for all employees and salaries set £5,000 above the national average. The publication also reported that employees can help write their own job descriptions and are provided with transport from the local railway station.
Founder and managing director Simon England said the recognition represented the second consecutive year that the business had been included in the rankings.
“I couldn’t be happier to be honoured by The Sunday Times for the second year in a row,” said England. “Since Debra and I founded ALA, a positive and caring staff and customer culture has been a key foundation to the business.”
“Insurance can be an overwhelming and confusing industry,” he added. “But we’ve remained focused on honesty, integrity and clarity, making our staff and customers feel valued.”
Within the Small Organisations category, which covers firms with 10-49 employees, the Top 10 list included Appetite for Business, Fastwarm Underfloor Heating, Fertifa, My Inhouse Lawyer, myHappymind, Outrank, Retec Group, Ribble Recruitment, Stuart Energy and The Workplace Depot.
The Medium Organisations category, covering businesses with 50-249 employees, featured Ardent Pub Group, Black Cat, Hall Brown Family Law, IMEX Group, iplicit, Jones Hargreaves, LDN Apprenticeships, LegalforLandlords, Omnea and Wright Robinson College.
Among Big Organisations with 250-1,999 employees, the Top 10 included Bella Italia, Clarion, Dakota Hotels, Dorchester Collection, Ison Harrison Solicitors, Matchtech, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Shrewsbury College, Synthesia and The Belfry Hotel & Resort.
The Very Big Organisations category, comprising employers with more than 2,000 staff, was led by Arm, David Lloyd Clubs, Dishoom, E.ON UK, EDF in the UK – Customers, MBDA, Moto, Octopus Energy, Thomas Franks and Valor Hospitality UK & Europe.
