Alternative lender, Capital on Tap, has a dedicated Happy Club which organises monthly challenges for the workforce to compete in and earn points for their Harry Potter-style house teams. Challenges have included cake making, cocktail making classes, virtual escape rooms and cookalongs. Other activities to boost morale during the pandemic have included virtual quizzes, company music videos and the introduction of a Capital on Tap radio, where everyone can request songs or even be DJ for a day.

Founded in 2012 to support small businesses, London-based Capital on Tap, which has grown from a three man band in Notting Hill to a 145 people operation across four locations including Cardiff, New York and Madrid is now one of the biggest non-bank lenders in the UK.

The fast-growing enterprise which has provided over £2bn to more than 120,000 businesses, encourages staff to pilot new ideas at work and learn new things, with senior bosses leading by example. Team members are allocated £1,000 a year to spend on their career development with many spending the allowance on coaching courses, subscriptions, conferences and other external skills.

Hands-on leaders model the firm's Be a Buddy value by getting stuck into core projects and by being visible and accessible to support them during the pandemic. Employees received a budget to spend on improving their home working environments and senior manager are assigned a team member to chat to every fortnight.