Chapters

Thomas · FTSE Connection Index

The Connection
Performance Effect

Making the human drivers of long-term performance visible across the FTSE 250.

See the findings Read the report

FTSE 250 · last 5 years

Index level · GBP

Market performance 2020 - 2025

170*FTSE 250 orgs

25M+*Data points

150k+Signals found

5 yrs2020 – 2025

02 · Why this matters now

Why do some organisations sustain performance while others stall?

We are operating in a global environment defined by persistent volatility, AI acceleration, geopolitical fragmentation and rising operational complexity. And that has become increasingly visible in the UK market. Over the last five years, the gap between high-and low-performing organisations has widened noticeably across the FTSE 250. While some organisations have sustained growth and execution consistency through disruption, others have experienced stalled performance, higher volatility and increasing operational strain.

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Layer 1 of 5

Market volatility

Strategy half-lives are shortening.

Demand, capital and policy conditions are shifting faster than traditional planning cycles can comfortably absorb. AI acceleration, geopolitical fragmentation and operational pressure are increasing the pace at which organisations must adapt.

THE RESULT

Long-term performance increasingly depends on how quickly and reliably organisations can align in a changing market.

Growth

Top-line CAGR

TSR

Total shareholder return

Engagement

Survey scores

Attrition

Voluntary leavers

Productivity

Output per FTE

Trust

Predictable, fair, honest

Belonging

Anchored in shared direction

Appreciation

Recognition that lands

Wellbeing

Sustainable energy and focus

Contribution

Work that matters

Cohesion

Pulling in the same direction

VISIBLE OUTCOMES

VARIABLES BELOW THE WATERLINE

03 · The core insight

Performance problems rarely start where you can see them.

The outcomes organisations track — revenue, growth, shareholder returns, engagement and attrition — are visible in business outcomes. But below the surface sit the conditions shaping them — trust, belonging, appreciation, wellbeing, contribution and cohesion.

Together, these conditions describe connection - the force that shapes how work happens across people, managers, teams and organisations.

By the time performance issues are visible in the metrics, the underlying conditions have been building for months. The challenge isn't measuring performance. It's seeing what's influencing it early enough to act.

Connection, composed of the factors that sit below the waterline, is the foundation of organisational health.

04 – 06 · The evidence

The Connection Performance Effect

Our dataset gave us three clear insights that should change how businesses approach performance.

Stronger connection. Stronger long-term performance.

Across 170 FTSE 250 organisations, companies with stronger organisational connection consistently outperformed those with weaker connection over the long term.

The findings show that connection predicts how reliably organisations execute, adapt and sustain performance over time.

Key takeaway

Connection is not just a cultural metric. It is measurably linked to long-term execution consistency and business performance.

8.8%

CAGR variance

Connection explained more than 8.8% of variance in five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

TSR variance

Connection explained more than 3% of variance in total shareholder return (TSR).

Findings describe associations, not proof of causation. In complex organisations, even modest effects of this size compound when they persist over multiple years.

07 · The FTSE connection landscape

Two trajectories, two organisational stories.

The same five years. The same operating environment. Very different outcomes.

A top performer

Raspberry Pi Holdings plc

CI 88 · Revenue CAGR +26.4% · TSR +85% (since IPO)

Growth built on focus, trust and execution discipline

Annual revenue ($m, reported)

Over the last five years, Raspberry Pi grew its revenue from around $100m to $323m. But the more interesting story lies in how that growth was created.

Raspberry Pi moved from being known for a product loved by educators and hobbyists into a business increasingly serving industrial, embedded and OEM customers. That shift takes more than demand. It requires technical teams, commercial teams, manufacturing partners and customers to stay closely aligned around business goals and values.

During the global component shortages, Raspberry Pi had to make difficult allocation choices, prioritise customers with real operational dependency and work closely with partners to keep supply moving. That kind of environment tests trust, coordination and decision-making under pressure.

The connection data paints a picture of an unusually aligned organisation. Scores for purpose, mission and team dynamics all exceed 90, suggesting a workforce that understands where the business is heading and how to work together to get there.

The connection signal here is not "nice culture". Both the scores and the performance outcome show how connection has supported strong organisational alignment - the ability to stay focused, coordinated and commercially aligned while the business changes shape.

The organisational question

Can Raspberry Pi keep the alignment and execution discipline that got it here as it scales beyond founder-led conviction?

A transition story

Playtech plc

CI 79 · Software and Computer Services · United Kingdom

When strategic focus becomes the challenge

Annual revenue (€m, reported)

Similar to Raspberry Pi, Playtech's story is about navigating change without losing alignment. While Raspberry Pi evolved from a hobbyist-focused business into a broader industrial and OEM platform, Playtech has been reshaping itself into a more focused technology-led B2B business through mergers and acquisitions.

The business has navigated pandemic disruption, regulatory change, international expansion and significant portfolio restructuring. In 2025, the sale of Snaitech to Flutter marked the clearest signal yet that Playtech was repositioning itself around a more focused, technology-led B2B strategy.

That matters because Playtech is not simply scaling an existing business. It is becoming a different kind of business.

The challenge in transitions like this is maintaining alignment while the organisation changes around it.

The connection profile paints a relatively healthy picture. Colleague connection is particularly strong at 86, while direct manager, peer-to-peer communication and team dynamics all score around 80 or above. Purpose (80) and business strategy (82) suggest employees broadly understand and support the direction of the business.

But the weaker signals are equally revealing. Bottom-up communication scores 73 and top-down communication 74, while workload scores 75. For a business undergoing strategic simplification, these are important indicators to watch.

The organisational question

Can Playtech turn strategic clarity into consistent execution across teams, regions and customer relationships?

All analysis from publicly available data. Annual revenue retrieved from each company's published full-year results.

10 · Introducing Connection Intelligence

Introducing Connection Intelligence.

For years, organisations have measured people. The next challenge is understanding how people create performance together.

Connection Intelligence is a new lens on organisational performance — surfacing the patterns and conditions that decide whether strategy translates into execution.

Connection is not a cultural perk. It is performance infrastructure.

When it strengthens, performance gets more predictable. When it weakens, execution gets harder to sustain.

The Thomas CXI platform

Three layers · one system

01Individual

Psychometric insight

How individuals communicate, respond to pressure and contribute to performance.

02Organisational

Connection measurement

What is strengthening or weakening alignment, collaboration and execution across teams.

03Manager action

AI-guided support

Practical guidance that helps managers respond earlier and lead more consistently.

11 · From insight to action

See the conditions shaping your performance.

If you're interested in more predictable business performance, contact us to discuss how the Thomas Connection Intelligence (CXI) platform can benefit your organisation.

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