Employees also benefit from an in-office private bar, free breakfasts and payday drinks at the in-house bar

The feedback I get as the business owner is that the team feels motivated and engaged. This reflected in us coming third in this year’s Sunday Times best small companies to work for survey. We have also upheld a staff retention rate of 96% since we launched in 2005. However what’s really interesting is that being a nice place is good for business – our profits are up 40 per cent year on year.

While our approach to holidays won’t work for every sector, (hospitals and schools, for example) the general move towards trusting employees more can only be good for staff and UK businesses as a whole.

Five ways the7stars breaks the rules to make staff happier:

1. Unlimited holiday: staff can take holiday whenever they want without seeking permission or filling out a form

2. Flexible working hours: staff can work whatever hours suit them and from home if required

3. No job titles: staff don’t work according to a set job description but instead have company-wide targets. There is no hierarchy - the company has a completely flat structure

4. Transparency: company business plan and profit targets are shared with all team members. The business runs regular job swaps so employees know what their colleagues do day-to-day.

5. Sense of community: the company hosts regular bake-offs, birthday drinks and payday drinks in their private office bar, along with free daily breakfasts and fruit baskets

What do you think? Should more companies trust their employees by adopting flexi working hours and an unlimited holiday policy? What about banishing job titles - is less of a hierarchy beneficial to the running of a company? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on Twitter

"My staff can work what hours they like with unlimited holidays" company founder Jenny Biggam on why breaking rules is good for business