Boots replaces M&S as most reputable UK company

Boots, which enters the Reputation Institute's UK Pulse Report for the first time, ranks first in the survey that measures corporate reputation among the general public. Other companies in the top 10 include Cadbury, Morrisons and Rolls Royce Aerospace.

Retailers performed well in the report, occupying 11 of the top 20 places, among them John Lewis Partnership, Debenhams, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

John Lewis Partnership also ranks higher than Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, while in supermarkets, Morrison's beat Sainsbury and Tesco. In broadcasting, the BBC came ahead of ITV and BSkyB, and HSBC has become the top-ranked bank.

British Airways, Eurostar and Royal Mail all dropped places, in what Reputation Instititue described as "pay[ing] the price for industrial action and broken trains that hugely inconvenienced customers".

Companies are selected by the organisation based on revenue and visibility among the general public, but can decide whether or not to be included. There is no fee for inclusion.

A spokeswoman for Reputation Institute said that Boots had not wished to be involved in the report in previous years, but that it had seen the "value" of being listed.

According to the firm, a company's reputation score has a positive and direct link to consumer attitudes and behaviours. There is a significant correlation between the strength of a company's reputation and the willingness of consumers to recommend it to others.

The score is a measure of corporate reputation calculated by averaging perceptions of four indicators: trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling. The 2010 report was conducted online between January and February 2010 taken from 5,591 online consumers. Each respondent was allowed to rate a maximum of five companies, with a total of 17,853 ratings taken in the UK.  

The top 10 are:

1. Alliance Boots

2. Rolls Royce Aerospace

3. Cadbury

4. Christie's

5. John Lewis Partnership

6. Marks & Spencer Group

7. Debenhams

8. William Morrison Supermarkets

9. United Biscuits

10. Tate & Lyle

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk