Timpsons is a UK family owned and run company offering a retail service, including shoe repairs and key cutting. Here is how they describe themselves: ‘Our colleagues are the heart and soul of our company and everyone is considered to be part of the Timpson family. We know that when our colleagues are happy they care about the service they provide which in turn is good for business . . . We pay our colleagues as much as we can afford rather than as little as we can get away with . . . At Timpson, we believe that delivering excellent customer service is the key to our success. Through our unique “upside down management” approach we give our colleagues total authority to do whatever they can to amaze our customers. If we make a mistake, then we can put it right there and then without the need to speak with a manager. We trust our colleagues to run our business as they see fit.’ Employees are given the day off on their birthday and are offered free use of UK holiday homes. They recruit 10 per cent of their staff directly from prisons (see www.timpson.co.uk/about/careers-at-timpson).

Does this make for a unique organizational culture?