Shell last won the top spot 10 years ago and, in some respects, this year’s rankings have a decade-old feel about them. Solidity and dependability are to the fore, with old-technology industries such as property (Berkeley Group is 20th), building materials (Hanson is 12th) and construction (Canary Wharf is 25th) all doing well. Part of the reason for this, believes D Michael Brown, is the uncertain times in which we live and the gloom that was enveloping commerce even before 11 September. ‘The environment was already volatile and this was reflected in the responses, with some elements of the economy slipping into recession and others not,’ he says. ‘The evidence suggests that confidence in property, building materials and construction remains strong. House prices may be slowing down, but house-building remains buoyant ­ builders are still in short supply.’

Food and food retailing is another sector likely to withstand the worst ravages of recession. The same, alas, cannot be said for transport, engineering and manufacturing. The Most Admired Companies ranking does not allow firms to rest on past glories. The fact that the most exacting judges the business community has to offer, the largest enterprises themselves, rank British Airways at 114th speaks volume for the woes of ‘the world’s favourite airline’, and this, remember, was before 11 September.

Quality of marketing and capacity to innovate are the only two categories not to be headed by Shell, BP or AstraZeneca. BSkyB deserves special mention for having shown the big boys a clean pair of heels in both lists, sweeping the board with its marketing and innovative ways of attracting new subscribers. French Connection, another company to demonstrate the power of sustained clever advertising, also figures prominently in these categories. Indeed, it says much about the current state of British manufacturing that only one famous industrial name, Pilkington, appears in the top 10 of either list, in capacity to innovate.

Companies want it every which way. They applaud a safety-first, softly-softly approach ­ hence Shell’s triumph ­ but they also praise ambition. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the most security-conscious sector of all, banking, where the most expansionist members, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland, have claimed first and second. ‘It can’t be coincidence that the most admired banks are also the most aggressive,’ comments Brown.

Time does not stand still in commerce. Two years ago, Sir Geoff Mulcahy, head of Kingfisher, was shortlisted for Most Admired Leader. This year he was nowhere to be seen. Last year, Kingfisher was Britain’s 73rd Most Admired Company; this year, Mulcahy’s Ј4 billion retail group is down to 181st. At that rate, retirement for Mulcahy must beckon.

It is impossible to ignore the decline of Marks & Spencer. Once, it would have been inconceivable that M&S would not score highly in most categories; today, it surprises no-one. Ability to attract, develop and retain talent; quality of management; quality of goods and services ­ these are all categories M&S would once have called its own. Not any more. Put simply, the company has long since ceased to be admired and instead seems more deserving of pity. But there are signs that it has at last bottomed out. Profits are up 20% and new fashion ranges are proving popular.

So M&S may have begun the long haul back to the summit, but climbing up is slower than falling down ­ as other firms will discover to their cost next year. That is the joy of the MT survey: deadly accurate on the one hand, impossible to forecast on the other.

continued. . .