Recruiters have kept up their record of featuring prominently in the Sunday Times list of the 100 best companies to work for.

Financial and legal specialist Badenoch & Clark was ranked seventh overall in the 2006 list, moving up from 11th last year and 17th in 2004. Of 250 B&C employees canvassed, 84.4% said the firm's managers expressed appreciation for a job well done.

B&C also scored highly for employees feeling inspired by the leader of the firm and “colleagues being fun to work with”.

Managing director Neil Wilson said the firm's appearance on the list is a “testament to the fact that what we do here is genuine and improving all the time… But this is the outcome of our strategies, not what shapes them”.

Office Angels, part of the Adecco group, was eighth, maintaining its top 10 position for the second year running.

Its staff, 92% of whom are female, cite an incentive programme that has seen top performers enjoy trips to New York and Vancouver.

SThree came 13th, having been unplaced last year.

Other recruiters to feature in the mainstream list include Robert Half International (34), Crone Corkhill & FSS (35), Randstad Employment Bureau (49), Michael Page International (56), Hill McGlynn & Associates (78) and Computer People (91).

In the smaller companies category, Stopgap won the best leadership award. Managing director Claire Owen, a mother of two, founded the agency in 1993.

Her staff scored her highly for inspiration and having faith in her. Overall, Stopgap came 13th among the smaller companies.

Other recruiters to feature in this category were Judd Farris (fifth), Jobwise (17), Macdonald & Company (20), C&M Group (45), ECHM (52), Informatiq Consulting (55), PFJ (67), Barker Ross (74), Marks Sattin (75), Morgan McKinley (80), Penta Consulting (92) and PRO (99).