Budget gym operator The Gym Group has achieved 15th place in the prestigious The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For list.

Considered the most extensive research into employee engagement, The Best Companies survey uses a wide range of criteria to measure each of the 896 companies on issues affecting employees in the UK today.

These include how employees feel about the head of the company and its senior managers, sharing the company's values and principles and the balance between their work and home duties.

John Treharne, The Gym Group's CEO said: "We work tirelessly to ensure that we are a satisfying and rewarding place to work.

"It is part of our ethos to have our employees engaged, enjoying their work and striving for the best results for our customers. In turn our employees and experienced management team have grown the business to its current 32 high quality sites.

"We're delighted that the success of our employees has been recognised in this way."

Other small leisure companies to make it onto the list include luxury tour operator International Travel Connections (18th) and The Cavendish Hotel in London (63rd).

To see the full list of companies on the list, click here.