YOU CAN NOW REGISTER YOUR COMPANY BELOW TO PARTICIPATE IN HAPPIEST PLACES TO WORK 2026, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PLANDAY. APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN.

Happiest Places to Work champions companies with the happiest teams in hospitality and highlighting on some of their most innovative practices.

One of our missions at CODE is to promote hospitality as a career, shining a light on best employment practices and continuing to make sure the industry evolves for the better. We hope our Happiest Places to Work can help achieve this.

There is an entry fee of £295 + VAT per company to take part in this year’s Happiest Places to Work. The fee covers your submission and all companies that take part will also receive anonymised survey data and insights for your company.

Once payment is complete, you will receive your entry pack containing a questionnaire for your company and a survey to be shared with your team. 

How it works

From Monday 30 March, Registered companies are sent their survey and application form

Once registered, you’ll need to receive your unique survey link, to be shared with your entire team, as well as a link to the application form.

Wednesday 10 June, Deadline for survey responses and application form

Meet the minimum survey participation* and complete the application form by this date, both are mandatory.

The survey

In our survey your team will be asked just 10 questions to assess different aspects of their happiness in your workplace. Individual responses will be reviewed anonymously by our judging panel and kept in the strictest confidence, so please ask your team to answer honestly.

Teams of 50 or less must achieve 50% participation in the survey. Teams of 51 or more must achieve 40% participation.

The application form

In this application form, you should detail the policies and initiatives you have implemented for consideration by the judging panel alongside your survey results. Demonstrate all the work your company undertakes to create a happy workplace.

Monday 6 July, Judging panel

Your survey scores and questionnaire responses will be assessed by our judging panel who will select the final list and an overall winner.

Monday 7 September, List announced

The list and overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony.

The best hospitality businesses know something that doesn’t show up on any menu: your people are your product. Which is why, for the third year running, Planday is supporting CODE Hospitality’s Happiest Places to Work, a celebration of those who’ve figured out the guest experience starts before anyone walks through the door.

Great teams don’t happen by accident. They’re built – through clear communication, fair scheduling and an environment that gives people the freedom to do their best work. When behind the scenes runs smoothly, service flows.

CODE’s Happiest Places to Work recognises the businesses getting that right. We’re proud to stand with CODE, and even prouder to learn from everyone who makes the list.