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With over 300 entries received from organisations across the UK, competition to be named a Finalist was fierce. But today, the British Recruitment Awards Judging panel is proud to reveal its 2024 Winners!
Powered by employee insight platform, New Possible, the British Recruitment Awards sets out to discover and celebrate the organisations that are truly passionate about recruitment’s role in building a thriving organisation. Organisations taking part this year range from start-up innovators to public sector heroes, tech superstars, global titans and everything in between. Irrespective of organisation size, industry or resources, Finalists shared how their initiatives are transforming recruitment and delivering tangible value for their organisations.
A huge thanks to the British Recruitment Awards 2024 all-star judging panel for reviewing the entries and sharing their expertise:
- Yasar Ahmad, Global VP of Talent, HelloFresh
- Julia Days, Head of Resourcing, EDF
- Liz Dowling, Chief People Officer, VIOOH
- Simon Gomez, Founder & Director, GMZTAlent
- Louise Gregory, Head of Global Talent Acquisition, Anglo American
- Claire Hamilton, UK Head of Talent Acquisition, Capgemini
- Sharlene John, Head of Recruitment & Onboarding, Selfridges
- Martin MacPhail, HR Director, RBH Hospitality Management
- Paul Maxin, Founding Director, Max Intalent
- Ben Murphy-Ryan, Sr Director, Talent Acquisition, LinkedIn
- Rebecca Oldham, Director of Talent Acquisition, Mastercard
- Prof Emma Parry, Head of Changing World of Work Group, Cranfield School of Management
- Anne Tolfree, Head of Functional Resourcing, DHL Supply Chain
- Richard Waite, People & Culture Director, Grant Thornton
- Nate Harwood, Founder, New Possible
And so, without any further ado, the full list of Winners and those awarded Highly Commended are:
Overall Awards
Candidate Experience of the Year (determined by employee feedback): K.A.G. Recruitment Consultancy (Highly Commended: New Star Care)
Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year: Gi Group (Highly Commended: GXO Logistics / Highly Commended: The Chevron Group)
Talent Acquisition Strategy of the Year (sponsored by K.A.G Recruitment): National Grid (Highly Commended: Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult)
Recruitment Campaign of the Year: Octopus Energy Group (Highly Commended: Wiltshire Council)
Innovation of the Year (sponsored by Areti): Edgewell Personal Care (Highly Commended: Gi Group)
People Awards
Leader of the Year (In-House) (sponsored by Evidenced): Nicola Plenderleith, Head of Talent Acquisition at Leyton (Highly Commended: Darren Peiris, VP & Group Head of Recruitment at National Grid)
Leader of the Year (Agency) (sponsored by Evidenced): Georgie Lynskey, Owner/Director at G.Digital | G&T (girls and tech!)
Rising Star of the Year (presented by The Talent Community): Carren Flanagan, Recruitment Trainer at Commercial Services Group Recruitment Division
Supplier Awards
Technology Partner of the Year: 50skills (Highly Commended: TopScore Tech)
In-House Awards
In-House Recruitment Team of the Year (<1,000 employees): Leyton UK
In-House Recruitment Team of the Year (1,000-4,999 employees): NTT DATA UK&I (Highly Commended: Caring Homes Group / Highly Commended: Global Banking School)
In-House Recruitment Team of the Year (5,000+ employees): Octopus Energy Group (Highly Commended: Edgewell Personal Care / Highly Commended: Firstsource UK)
Employer Brand of the Year: Accenture (Highly Commended: Elysium Healthcare)
Onboarding Initiative of the Year: The Chevron Group (Highly Commended: NTT DATA UK&I)
Early Careers Employer of the Year: durhamlane (Highly Commended: Weightmans)
Agency Awards
Best Place to Work in Recruitment (determined by employee feedback): Edison Smart (Highly Commended: Phoenix Collaborative Care)
Agency Recruitment Team of the Year (<25 employees): Impala Search
Agency Recruitment Team of the Year (25+ employees): Optime Group
Best New Recruitment Agency of the Year: Percival Resourcing (Highly Commended: The Find Your Flex Group)
Executive Recruitment Agency of the Year: K.A.G. Recruitment Consultancy
Temporary Recruitment Agency of the Year: Chefs and Events Staffing
Financial Services Recruitment Agency of the Year: Emérique & Partners
Technology Recruitment Agency of the Year: Impala Search (Highly Commended: Xcede Group)
Public/Third Sector Recruitment Agency of the Year: Percival Resourcing
Engineering Recruitment Agency of the Year: Torque Consulting
Nate Harwood, Founder of New Possible and British Recruitment Awards judge said: “The British Recruitment Awards celebrates the UK’s incredible talent community, recognising the outstanding agencies, in-house teams, and individuals powering thriving workplaces both at home and beyond. Congratulations to all the Winners and Finalists.”
Georgie Lynskey was named ‘Leader of the Year (Agency)’ for her remarkable leadership of G.Digital and its sister initiative, G&T (Girls and Tech!). Georgie founded G.Digital just before the pandemic, growing it into a seven-figure business with no external investment. She built an 85% female placement rate agency, with 70% of placements coming from inbound candidates. Georgie also founded G&T, the largest female tech community in the North, to amplify women in tech and address the gender diversity gap. She has been recognised for her impact, speaking at corporate events and leading grassroots initiatives like G&TT (girls and tech of tomorrow!) to support young women entering tech. The Judges praised her ‘clear mission and focus’ along with her ‘positive impact in the market’.
Octopus Energy Group took home both ‘Recruitment Campaign of the Year’ and ‘In-House Recruitment Team of the Year (5,000+ employees)’ for their innovative and rapid approach to talent acquisition. Their standout campaign, ‘OctoPalooza,’ was the UK’s first same day hiring festival, designed to recruit 3,000-4,000 team members to support the expansion of clean energy tech. The event, held across multiple locations, resulted in nearly 400 hires on the day. The Judges praised the ‘great initiative to support driving the green and renewables transition’, and described their campaign as ‘innovative, exciting and inclusive!’
Gi Group was awarded ‘Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year’ for their groundbreaking neurodivergence initiative, designed to cultivate an inclusive environment for neurodiverse individuals. Key ingredients of this initiative include the ‘Neurodivergence in the Workplace’ guide, created from colleagues' lived experiences, as well as a role model programme, neuro-inclusion training, and a flexible employee value proposition. Results have been impressive, with over 262 hours of training already delivered across 79% of employees and 65% of leadership. Employee and client feedback indicated a marked increase in neurodiversity awareness, with 100% of disclosed neurodivergent employees reporting improved job satisfaction. Overall, judges praised the ‘positive action taken to provide an inclusive workplace,’ calling the initiative ‘thoughtful and impactful.’
Leyton UK was awarded ‘In-House Recruitment Team of the Year (<1,000 employees)’. Previously relying heavily on agency partners with a high cost per hire and elevated attrition rates, Leyton’s Talent Acquisition (TA) team overhauled their recruitment strategy, reducing cost per hire eight-fold and halving attrition to 34%. A key factor in this success was the introduction of the Talent Engagement Executive role, which focused on building an online talent community using the latest recruitment tech. The team also revitalised Leyton’s employer brand, launching the ‘Life at Leyton’ social media presence and creating the Life at Leyton podcast, which not only attracted candidates but also boosted employee engagement. With 43% of hires now coming from direct sourcing and agency usage reducing from 79% to just 14%, Leyton has saved over £500,000 and improved Glassdoor ratings from 3.0 to 4.1 stars. Overall, the Judges were very impressed by their ability to ‘identify the problem’, ‘set the objectives’ and achieve ‘fantastic results’.
Winners were revealed at a special celebration event in London, hosted by comedian Fiona Allen. The event also featured a panel discussion titled ‘Top Predictions for 2025’, moderated by Tom Hadley. Panellists included Amanda Adeleke, Abigail Fitch and Claire Hamilton.
This year, our mission was supported by four event partners. We’d like to thank them all for their support:
K.A.G Recruitment: Pioneering Talent & Training solutions with Integrity, Expertise, and a commitment to Excellence in Engineering, Manufacturing, IT, and Logistics.
Areti: Areti Group is an innovative tech staffing agency that values people and sustainability, leaving the world in a better place than we found it.
Evidenced: Evidenced is the award-winning structured interview platform that records, transcribes and guides your team to the right hiring decision, every time.
The Talent Community: The Talent Community is an inclusive global recruitment community for Inhouse, Agency, RPO and Talent Vendors.
The British Recruitment Awards is powered by New Possible, the employee insight platform that's committed to your success. New Possible helps leaders build healthier organisations by providing meaningful insight that can drive real change. Find out more about our mission or book a demo.
