A BOLTON firm which offers its staff free breakfast and gym membership has been named the best retailer to work for in the country.

AO.com, which is based at the Middlebrook, came in top spot in the list ahead of firms including John Lewis, IKEA and Waitrose.

Employees were invited to offer feedback about their employers on the website Glassdoor.com, and AO.com received an average score of 4.5 out of 5 from its staff.

The company received the highest number of positive reviews out of all employers listed on the site, and was commended for making staff feeling valued.

It offers its staff free breakfasts and snacks, childcare vouchers, two paid days of community work a year, corporate gym membership and subsidies on social activities that four or more employees want to do, such as scuba diving or guitar lessons.

On the website, one AO.com employee wrote: "People are AO's greatest asset, you're never more than a few feet away from a smile.

"The culture is real, everyone naturally inherits the caring, driven, bold, fun and smart values that underpin the recruitment process at the company.

"You are given autonomy from day one to excel in your role and the company values and rewards staff.

"The office facilities are great, very modern and fun. Other perks such as free snacks and breakfast, onsite Starbucks, pool and other games are the cherry on top."

It is not the first award AO.com has received, having been placed in the Sunday Times best places to work list and winning Retail Week’s best employer award last year.

John Roberts CEO said: "At AO, we firmly believe that people are our business, and caring about our employees is a fundamental part of our culture.

"I’ve always believed that you can’t pay people to care, they have to want to care, which is why we knew that it was important to invest in our employees and the environments that they work in from the very beginning.

"I feel really proud reading some of the reviews left on Glassdoor.co.uk, as it shows the impact that some of the things we are doing here are having. Everything we do at AO is driven by a mission to be exceptional in the moments that matter, especially when it comes to our people."