MATERIAL Marketing and Communications scooped the top spot in Scotland's Best Workplaces Awards for the second year running.

The Glasgow-based marketing and communications agency was also named the best small Scottish workplace in the awards, which were created by the Great Place to Work Institute UK and organised by The Herald in strategic partnership with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.

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The awards were announced at a dinner in Glasgow hosted by BBC Scotland presenter, Catriona Shearer, and attended by more than 160 guests from the top 10 small and medium/large workplaces in Scotland.

They were presented by the chief executive of The Great Place to Work Institute UK, Tom O'Byrne, and the deputy editor of The Herald, Magnus Llewellin.

Material Marketing and Communications was commended for being an organisation that rewards staff while driving home its culture and ethos by annually awarding "Top Boy" and "Top Girl" titles to employees who best embody them. The company's Material Academy also offers life skill lessons for personal development outside work.

Beaverbrooks the Jewellers was named the number one best medium/large workplace in Scotland. The company was praised for leading by example in charity giving with 20% of post-tax profit going to charity. Beaverbrooks showed commitment to its front-line operations, awarding monthly, quarterly and annual bonuses to customer-facing staff and developing the management pool by promoting staff through the ranks.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions won the leadership excellence and diversity awards.

LBi bigmouthmedia won the award for learning and development excellence and was praised for offering a wide array of award-winning learning and development interventions.

Changeworks picked up the final special award for sustainability excellence for its commitment to helping its employees live and work sustainably.

Mr O'Byrne said the Great Place to Work Institute UK could not be happier with the strength of this year's Scotland's Best Workplaces Programme.

He added: "The 20 winners have proved that putting a focus on people and fostering a culture of trust in the workplace is both possible and truly valuable. These organisations are working hard to take care of their people and they're sowing the seeds of long-term success."

The Top Ten Small Workplaces in Scotland 2012 are: Material Communications Group, Summer Isles Hotel, Law at Work Ltd, Thorpe Molloy Recruitment, Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, Rocela Limited, Policy Services Ltd, Bright Purple Resourcing, Clyde Marine Training, People's Postcode Lottery.

The Top Ten Medium/Large Workplaces in Scotland 2012 are: Beaverbrooks the Jewellers, Quintiles Limited, LBi bigmouthmedia, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, Starbucks Coffee Company, Carr Gomm, Argyll College UHI, Changeworks, Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association.