Echelon's client survey asked its clients, including public transport operators, public sector bodies such as NHS Trusts, academic bodies, and professional institutes, to rate - anonymously - its performance over the last year against eight criteria. Every response rates Echelon as 'good' or 'excellent' for each of these criteria.

This year, the top-scoring criteria overall are 'designing innovative solutions', followed by 'understanding your needs', and 'implementing solutions on time and budget'.

Commenting on this, Alistair Morrison, Echelon's CEO, said: "Last year, our clients were particularly impressed by Echelon's 'attitude' and 'flexibility'. This year, perhaps in a reflection of the current generally gloomy economic situation, our clients have given us a huge vote of confidence by rating the 'fitness for purpose' and 'value for money' aspects of Echelon's solutions highly.

"We have now analysed and challenged every aspect of Echelon's operations, involving every employee and a number of clients. This has resulted in many refinements to both what we do and how we do it", Morrison explains.

In addition to providing its 'LearningMatters.com' online learning resource to a number of new clients this year, including the Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP) and the Scottish Borders Council, Echelon's approach has seen its clients improve levels of customer satisfaction and stakeholder 'value for money'.