Stonewall Top 100: MoD a top employer for gay, lesbian, and bi-sexual workers

Organisations to receive recognition from the charity include an NHS Trust, and a housing company

The charity Stonewall revealed its Top 100 Employers list on Wednesday (ANDREW COWIE/AFP/Getty Images)

The Ministry of Defence has been named the most improved employer of the year in an annual list of the most gay-friendly organisations in the UK.

The Top 100 Employers 2014 list published by the lesbian, gay and bi-sexual rights charity Stonewall, also included the MI5, the Army, and the Royal Navy.

North East-based housing firm Gentoo was named the top gay-friendly employer, followed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, and The Co-operative.

The award for employee network group of the year went to Leicestershire County Council's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Workers' Group.

The Head of International Development Consulting at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Andy Woodfield, was named senior champion of the year, while IBM was named global employer.

Law firms make up 10 per cent of the top 100.

The remaining winners will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday at Tate Britain, the first museum to appear in the Top 100 list.

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Stonewall Chief Executive, Ben Summerskill, said: “Every single employer in the top 100 has performed remarkably this year as competition for a place on the list of gay-friendly employers has never been fiercer.”

He added: “This commitment from organisations - across 38 different industries - is changing the face of workplaces for the better for all staff, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

The list is based on the result of Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2014, which measures a range of key indicators, and includes the results of a confidential questionnaire of 9,700 lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

The organisation said the Index consistently reveals that employers ranked in its Top 100 had more satisfied and loyal staff members.

Peter Walls, Gentoo's chief executive officer, said: “Winning this award is an amazing achievement. It truly is the people at Gentoo that make this business great and it is vital that everyone feels able to be themselves at work and give us all they've got.

"This award will motivate us to continue to find new ways of working towards our vision.”