2019 Winners

Winner: Oracle Contractors

Oracle Contractors (OC) is an expert provider of independent Oracle technology specialists in the UK and around the world. With just over 20 staff in two UK offices and one in Houston, Texas, managing hundreds of contractors, OC’s entry stood out from the competition.

• OC has a clearly defined contractor recruitment process, which is very personal and individual. Recruiters work closely with individual contractors, taking time to get to know their personalities and even their family background to ensure they would be the best cultural fit for a specific business or project.
  
  
• There is always a member of the OC team available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so if any issues arise, they can deal with them promptly. OC consultants have been able on many occasions to negotiate with the client to increase the rates for contractors and also make sure they are recompensed for lengthy overtime.
  
  
• Even when contractors are not on placement, OC still sees them as part of its team, so consultants stay in regular contact, finding out how their placement (with another company) is going and what sort of thing they would be looking for once their assignment is complete.
  
  
• The judges were impressed with the many positive comments from contractors, with all of them saying how hard OC strives to look after them, and how quickly the consultants get back to any queries or problems.

Judges’ comments:

“Oracle Contractors have a very thorough and personalised approach to contractor care. This was a clear and stand-out entry, unanimously agreed by all the judging panel.”

Shortlist:

Intelligent Resource
Oliver Bernard

Winner: La Fosse Associates

Technology, digital and change recruitment company La Fosse Associates is founded on people development and internal promotion, with the aim of scaling up to 300 people by 2021.

• The company aims to achieve its 300-staff goal through a 70% associate (entry-level) hiring model, so its learning & development (L&D) programme encompasses extensive training, tailored to each individual’s Personal Development Plan, and aligned to La Fosse’s Career Roadmap.
  
  
• La Fosse employed a full-time organisational psychologist and careers coach in 2017 to support the Talent team in hiring the best people into the company’s emerging talent roles
  
  
• To reach the emerging talent market, La Fosse has partnerships with networks of university students and sponsors three university sports teams. Social media campaigns such as ‘Recruitment Done Differently’, ‘Work Here Wednesdays’ and ‘The Seven Fears of Switching Industry’ (for career changers) have also proved to be very successful.
  
  
• Despite employing emerging talent for the past decade, with benefits such as faster promotion, and high retention and engagement, La Fosse still learns lessons and changes its approach, ie. involving managers earlier on in the development of emerging talent, offering a mentoring programme and resilience training to support the new starters.

Judges’ comments:

“The use of an organisational psychologist/head of talent is an excellent example of external input.”

Shortlist:

Gravitas Recruitment Group

Winner: Investigo

Investigo is a recruitment agency with experience across multiple specialisms in the public and private sector.

• Investigo employees voted for Panathlon Foundation to become its annual charity partner. The charity provides sporting opportunities to over 17,500 disabled young competitors every year.
  
  
• The judges were particularly impressed by an ongoing commitment to supporting children and young adults with disabilities. The company aims to ensure that charity engagement is at the forefront, even from someone’s first day at Investigo.
  
  
• Entitled the Big Investigo Give (BIG), Investigo’s social responsibility programme is specifically designed to maximise employee engagement across the workforce and drive both fundraising activity and awareness.
  
  
• The programme centres around four key aims: to be Investigo’s biggest charity campaign ever; to raise £100k for charity; for each team to organise a fundraising event and raising £250 per head; for everyone to use their charity giving and volunteering day.
  
  
• Company fundraising events have included a charity quiz, charity golf day for 40/50 clients, a football tournament, cycle ride, Tough Mudder and fantasy football.

Judges’ comments:

“Investigo demonstrate real passion and commitment to social responsibility, highlighting amazing results, particularly in fundraising and employee engagement.”

Shortlist:

Guidant Global
La Fosse Associates
Talent

Winner: La Fosse Associates

Technology, digital and change recruitment company La Fosse Associates (LFA) employs around 220 people across its UK (London, Leeds), US (Los Angeles, New York City) and Toronto, Canada offices.

• The judges said that the benefits programme was extremely attractive and offered rewards that were truly different, such as a hypnotherapist, a holiday buy-back scheme and mental health coaching.
  
  
• With the Shared Ownership Scheme, every employee can become a shareholder in LFA from day one. The company gifts staff 40% of equity by way of an EMI share option scheme. New starters can increase their holding if they contribute in line with the company’s values. In addition, options are gifted over time, rather than being linked to financial performances, which allows LFA to recognise contributions to the company’s success and/or culture.
  
  
• Among the many other benefits of the award-winning benefits on offer are: discounted private health insurance and dental care; monthly in-office masseuse; annual company-wide ski trip to Alps; quarterly incentives to Ascot, Paris and Venice; lunchtime skills workshops (languages, singing, graphic design, HTML coding) and cultural outings to museums and art galleries; and free pastries, fresh fruit baskets, and prosecco and beer every Friday at 5pm.
  
  
• Included in the many benefits is LFA’s training programme, which gives a structured career path from starter up to director level. And in total, the judges said the entry demonstrated impressive return on investment measured by employee engagement, retention, promotions and cross-sold work.

Judges’ comments:

“The policy to give employees a financial stake in La Fosse from day one through the Shared Ownership Scheme is exemplary.”

Shortlist:

Coyle Personnel
Seven Resourcing

Winner: Morson Group

Now in its 50^th year, the Morson Group supplies skilled staffing and engineering design solutions to the aerospace, defence, rail, oil, nuclear, gas and construction sectors.

• Building on the company’s previous focus on employees’ physical health, the MorFit initiative expanded in November 2018 to address multiple aspects of mental wellbeing to significantly improve the complete health of Morson employees.
  
  
• Recognising that the working environment can exacerbate mental illness, an impressive part of Morson’s MorFit programme is its mental health first aiders – individuals who act as reference points and trained to spot mental health triggers within its workforce.
  
  
• ‘Managing Mental Health in the Workplace’ training has been made mandatory for anyone with line manager responsibilities. Workplace wellbeing is supported by the Group’s board, which creates commitment from the top down and bottom up in supporting a culture where mental health is prioritised.
  
  
• The judges were impressed that MorFit gets under the skin of mental health issues and addresses them brilliantly. For example, when Morson received feedback that a large number of its contractor workforce wanted to discuss their own mental health struggles and the management team didn’t feel confident in navigating this on their own, Morson arranged special training to suit their specific needs.
  
  
• The judges felt MorFit was thorough, well-rounded and very relevant to the way people want to work today.

Judges’ comments:

“Morson’s MorFit recognised the potential risks of mental health issues – including contractors – and addressed them properly.”

Shortlist:

MRL Consulting Group

Winner: Amoria Bond

Established in 2006, Amoria Bond provides recruitment consultancy services to both employers and working professionals. The company trades in more than 40 countries from its four international operations in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and Singapore.

• Amoria Bond’s business strategy of natural expansion through organic growth is achieved through promoting from within and Training & Development that engages employees and provides relevant support to acquire the skills, knowledge and mindset to succeed.
  
  
• Launched in 2018, the Amoria Bond Academy (ABA) is a bespoke in-house learning-management online portal, which maps out a two-year plan from pre-starter, through to onboarding, an introduction to recruitment, through to the next level where starters can transition to become senior consultants and top billers.
  
  
• The judges liked the continual tracking of newcomers’ progress through individual Personal Development Plans, giving individuals the ability to accelerate their own learning.
  
  
• Employees are supported through the Amoria Bond Hub and its Hall of Fame. Employee progression is measured, reviewed, and improvements and growth are celebrated.
  
  
• Through its focus on mindfulness coaching, mental health initiatives and ABA’s Mindset Mastery zone, Amoria Bond supports all employees at all levels, not only with recruitment skills and knowledge but also with tools that equip them with the mental strength/resilience/mindset to keep delivering great results and service.

Judges’ comments:

“The judges were impressed that the programme fully supports new employees through the recruitment process and their development phase.”

Highly commended:

Gravitas Recruitment Group

Shortlist:

Boston Hale
Investigo
Liquid Personnel
McGregor Boyall Associates
NonStop Recruitment
Projectus Consulting
Roc Search
Saragossa
VHR

Winner: Boston Hale

Boston Hale is a multi-sector consultancy offering contract, interim and permanent hiring at mid-senior level for the accountancy & finance, legal business services, procurement & supply chain, strategy & transformation and technology sectors.

• Onboarding at Boston Hale starts from the moment the candidate accepts a role and continues for 10 weeks on joining the business, after which they move to their team full time.
  
  
• On acceptance, an employee is invited to join their team for drinks. The new manager is in regular contact, answering any questions and offering advice around considerations, such as relocating. An operations executive completes the necessary paperwork for HR, sets up all systems, orders business cards and communicates when and how (ie. procedures on the first day) the new starter will join.
  
  
• The first day is an introduction to the business. The judges liked the fact that as well as setting out the programme for the next 10 weeks, the head of training acts to calm first day nerves, and holds a ‘stupid questions’ session where anything can be asked in confidence.
  
  
• Newcomers receive 10 weeks of blended learning delivered by the head of training to equip them with core skills, technical and behavioural. Group classroom sessions are followed by one-to-one coaching sessions and individual at-desk learning. Each trainee is supported by the head of training in their everyday work challenges, but also on a pastoral level, actively seeking to advise, ‘be their friend’ and helping them in a holistic way.

Judges’ comments:

“An outstanding example of what can be achieved through in-depth onboarding for both new employees and for contractors. This was a very well-rounded and thought-out approach to an organisational culture issue that is too often neglected.”

Shortlist:

Investigo
Projectus Consulting
Roc Search

Winner: Goodman Masson

With offices in London, Dusseldorf and New York, Goodman Masson is a finance and technology recruitment firm with a workforce of more than 210 people.

• Demonstrating the company’s employee engagement philosophy and how it is fascinated with the modern workplace, Goodman Masson holds two trademarks that are linked to how it looks after its people – The Experience and There is More to Life Than Work.
  
  
• The judges were impressed with its £500k spend during the year on The Experience and the working environment, which includes the annual office refurb, a subsidised masseuse, free breakfast and fruit, and a dedicated caterer who comes on the last Friday of every month to make everyone homemade lunches.
  
  
• Recognising that the workplace environment is so much more than the office, it promotes ‘Freedom to come & go’ – a philosophy that impresses on employees that there really is more to life than coming to the office every day. So if someone needs to take the children to nursery or go to the school play; or leave early to see a friend who is down for a special occasion; or have a hobby that involves leaving work early; or wish to come in late but work from home for the morning, then they can.
  
  
• Other great benefits include: Feel good Thursdays, Wellbeing Week, Chill Out room, 50K Club (staff must commit to run 50km every month, and those still in the Club by December will be taken to Athens to run a half marathon), beauty treatments, yoga and sports, health workshops, quarterly/monthly lunches and Champagne Friday for top billers, and a 3.30pm finish every Friday.

Judges’ comments:

“The judges liked that Goodman Masson took a ‘workplace is more than the office’ approach, with its many personalised examples of supporting the workforce.”

Shortlist:

Definitum Search
Evolution Recruitment Solutions
Marlin Green
Roc Search
Signify Technology

Winner: Gravitas Recruitment Group

Gravitas is a global specialist recruitment company focusing on the technology and insurance/finance sectors, based in five offices – Hong Kong, Leeds, London, Manchester and Singapore – with around 125 staff in the UK.

• Reflecting the internal brand ‘We are Gravitas’, the company demonstrated a clear and deliberate communication strategy, closely integrated with its talent acquisition strategy, driving engagement throughout the company.
  
  
• All employee communications are overseen by the head of communications within the marketing department with a current team of five. The team also has admin, systems and HR support to collate information that needs to be communicated and to reinforce messages.
  
  
• In its entry, Gravitas revealed and impressive display of the different forms of communication, including video, gamification, update emails, meetings (such as Friday Wrap-ups, monthly meetings), posters, WhatsApp groups, Instagram and Facebook, Skype announcements and presentations.
  
  
• The judges noted that in its communications Gravitas was very aware of cultural differences between the UK and Asia, so tailored its messages to fit the different company offices. For example, having smaller groups in Asia, as employees often don’t like to speak out in front of others, or avoiding phrases or colloquialisms for fear of offending colleagues.

Judges’ comments:

“The judges were impressed by the sheer breadth of communication channels, anchored by innovative and visually engaging materials.”

Shortlist:

Roc Search

Winner: Baltimore Consulting

Baltimore Consulting is a senior appointment and niche recruitment specialist to the public and third sectors, focusing particularly on local government, the NHS and education.

• Impressive range of employee benefits and incentives, including flexible and remote working, enhanced parental leave, mental health support, team incentives such as all-expenses trips away, lunch clubs and days out, and Wellbeing Corner – a place to relax that encourages meditation and breaks from work.
  
  
• Employees are encouraged to take time for fundraising activities, and the company chose MIND for its charity of choice. Staff took part in mindfulness walks, themed activities for World Mental Health Day, as well as workplace visits from MIND itself to really encourage engagement with Baltimore people and their families.
  
  
• Starting from the top, with Baltimore Consulting’s owner and CEO Charmaine Vincent, staff are passionate about contributing to clients’ success. Everyone at Baltimore attends a sector-specific course within Bristol City Council so they are certified in a specialist subject to mirror their contractors. This consultative approach shines through as employees go above and beyond for both clients and candidates.
  
  
• To boost engagement and retention, staff are recognised on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, and the judges were impressed with the company Recognition programme. This includes Star of the Week, Employee of the Month, tailored roadmaps for career progression, gift vouchers, days out and giving employees the autonomy to do their jobs in the best way possible.

Judges’ comments:

“A coaching culture enveloping both sales and back-office teams, a £5k annual investment to refresh staff qualifications, tailored career roadmaps and various employee recognition initiatives were highlights of the offerings that made Baltimore Consulting a stand-out company to work for at the micro level.”

Shortlist:

Darcy Associates
Definitum Search
Vertus Partners

Winner: Bramwith Consulting

Bramwith Consulting is a specialist Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment firm with 30 employees working from our London HQ, with new offices opened in New York City and Amsterdam in 2018.

• Judges were particularly impressed with the meritocratic way Bramwith is structured, offering a great individual, uncapped commission structure. Every employee is offered the same basic salary and individual uncapped commission structure at each grade, so employees know they are being rewarded fairly, irrespective of gender, race, longevity in the business etc.
  
  
• An especially exciting aspect of Bramwith’s operations was the creation and assignment of special roles to consultants in the business on top of their core billing responsibilities: CSR officer, D&I champion, Well-being officer, Sustainability officer, House competition officer and Innovation officer were among these roles that help employees widen and deepen their commitment to building a quality organisation. 
  
  
• As well as advocating flexible working practices, company benefits include an interest-free clothing loan and interest-free season ticket loan, a one-hour per week ‘flexi-hour’ off work, free private healthcare, flexible working hours and working from home one day per week, and a family day off and a day to volunteer for a chosen charity.
  
  
• The judges liked the onboarding programme where, as well as a formal induction with one of the directors, every new starter has a ‘buddy’ senior consultant assigned from another team, who is able to informally help them acclimatise into the Bramwith culture.
  
  
• There is clear accountability for non-sales generating activity including CSR, wellbeing, sustainability, innovation and holding people accountable through monthly updates.

Judges’ comments:

“A value-driven organisation that has equality and inclusion at its heart. The creation of specialist roles reflects an admirable commitment by management to grow a company employees can be proud to work for.”

Shortlist:

Boston Hale
Building Careers UK
Leap29
Oakwell Hampton
Signify Technology
Source Group International
The Green Recruitment Company

Winner: Oscar

Oscar’s three brands delivers recruitment services from its offices in the UK, the US and Europe. Oscar Technology delivers talent across the IT/digital sectors; Oscar Energy provides talent to some of the world’s leading energy companies; and Oscar Construction offers talent to leading companies in the construction and built environment industry.

• Oscar has a transparent career structure. Employees are given personalised development plans with clear objectives and are encouraged to express their own ideas. All trainee consultants enrol into Oscar’s School of Excellence, delivered in-house by the company’s full-time training manager. Impressively, the School of Excellence has been highly effective for Oscar, with 90% of the senior recruitment team joining as trainees.
  
  
• Career breaks and sabbaticals for travel/study are offered to all employees, such as a consultant working a ski season in the Alps, which they had always wanted to do, and another taking a sabbatical to fulfil their lifelong dream of travelling to South East Asia.
  
  
• The company has a structured return to work process for those on maternity/paternity or carer/illness leave or those who have been on a sabbatical, working closely with the employee to enable a seamless transition back into life at Oscar.
  
  
• Recognition is a key component of Oscar’s culture, celebrating the hard work and achievements of its people. Employees are offered bespoke rewards tailored to them as an individual. All employees, regardless of their tenure, receive rewards every year, with those who have been with the company longer, receiving tailored gifts, which have included family holidays.

Judges’ comments:

“A significant differentiator here was the offering of simple, yet creative and thoughtful benefits to accompany a well-rounded programme of benefits and training – providing five extra days of leave a year for people getting married and extended lunch breaks to accommodate exercise are brilliant touches.”

Highly Commended:

MRL Consulting Group

Shortlist:

Oliver Bernard
Seven Resourcing
VHR
Volt

Winner: Amoria Bond

Amoria Bond supplies niche recruitment consultancy services in skills shortage areas across six global brands: Technology, Engineering, SAP, Banking & Finance, Energy and Life Sciences. Its nearly 200 employees are in four locations: Manchester, Köln, Amsterdam and Singapore.

• The judges thought the Onboarding Checklist, which has in writing when the various stages happen and who does what and when with the new joiner, was extremely well thought out, detailing pre-joiner actions. Included are reminders to managers, and what happens in the induction, first month and months two and three.
  
  
• The Amoria Bond Academy (ABA) is a bespoke online Learning-Management portal, an impressive online accessible library of training video modules delivered by both internal and external specialists. Fully launched in 2018, ABA has significantly enhanced the firm’s professional development offering.
  
  
• The PROFES values of the company – Positivity, Respect, Ownership, Fun, Excellence, Success – is at the heart of Amoria Bond and engrained in its staff, who are motivated and rewarded for displaying PROFES behaviours.
  
  
• The company’s approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is impressive, and an integral part of Amoria Bond’s strategic business plan. As well as reducing its environmental footprint, the company has helped build over 100 homes in a shanty town in Peru. The Amoria Bond Charitable Trust is set up to assist in many other charitable activities by Amoria Bond and individual employees.

Judges’ comments:

“In a hotly contested and high quality category, Amoria Bond demonstrated strong, long-term investments in their people and infrastructure. Amoria Bond’s dedication to CSR, equality and diversity & inclusion really impressed the judges.”

Highly Commended:

La Fosse Associates

Shortlist:

Coyle Personnel
Evolution Recruitment Solutions
Goodman Masson
Intelligent Resource
Investigo
Roc Search
Search Consultancy

Winner: Molly Allen, Oakwell Hampton

Far from ending up in recruitment by mistake, as many in the industry would admit to, Molly has wanted to work in the sector since high school, even writing a dissertation on the recruitment industry as part of her degree! She arrived in Manchester not knowing a soul but due to her steely desire to succeed was offered a role at Oakwell Hampton after just one interview.

• Having started in September 2018, Molly has consistently broken company records in her short time at the company, opening a new Data Analytics market for Oakhill with no market knowledge, clients or candidates when she started. She put herself through a digital analytics course to fully understand and immerse herself in the market.
  
  
• She is thoroughly inspiring to her colleagues, living and breathing the company values, which are prevalent in her work. She gives all the individuals around her belief that anything is possible. With hard work, nous and an understanding of how to explain herself clearly to the market, she has helped those with a few limiting beliefs really start to think they can achieve great things too.
  
  
• Molly actively supports non-sales focused activities, taking time out of her day to help with or implement CSR initiatives, training and staff inductions.
  
  
• Molly has shown how to create a personal brand in this modern age. However, while she is an advocate of social media, she believes that in recruitment the best way to build your image is through networking and getting results. She is a firm believer that people will tell other people in her market about her if she does a good job – and word of mouth has been key to her quick success.

Judges’ comments:

“The judges recognised that she chose to join recruitment before her studies and has ambitions to make a difference and create a legacy.”

Shortlist:

Mitchell Franklin, Signify Technology
Erin Mace, North Starr (subsidiary of Harrington Starr)
Alejandro Perez, VHR

Winner: Lucy Sutton, Swanstaff Recruitment

Lucy joined temporary and permanent staffing solutions firm Swanstaff four years ago as a recruitment resourcer, and following a period in the internal recruitment team was then promoted to support services manager in 2018. Lucy has shown the determination to push forward in her career and is a loyal employee who always goes the extra mile.

• Lucy took on more responsibility, providing interim cover for the director of support services, who was on maternity leave. Although a steep learning curve, Lucy embraced the challenge, taking everything in her stride and achieving beyond the company’s expectations to become a core member of the Swanstaff team.
  
  
• She is always looking at ways to improve the business. Her current role involves overseeing departments including Compliance, HR, Marketing, Internal Recruitment, Facilities and IT. Lucy also provides support to the Swan Family brand – a managed service arm, where the firm runs supervised family contact services on behalf of six Local Authorities. Lucy played a pivotal role in launching the newest and largest Swan Family contract in Liverpool, including ensuring the recruitment and training of 80+ new staff members and the sourcing, fit out and launch of two buildings – an outstanding success story.
  
  
• With 10 direct reports who rely on her for support, advice and management, Lucy plays an integral role to the smooth running of the business. She is a prime example of how an individual can progress at Swanstaff. Her inspirational success story is motivational for her colleagues and new hires within the business. Lucy now plays an important role in ensuring these opportunities are also open to others.

Judges’ comments:

“Lucy has succeeded in both support and sales roles, proving her ability to transition around different parts of the business.”

Shortlist:

Daniel Evans, Roc Search

Winner: Annalee Wood, Aspire Recruitment

Team manager at employment agency Aspire Recruitment Annalee Wood is a real team player, inspiring her team through leading by example. Never asking them to do anything that she wouldn’t do, she instils in the team that when you put your mind to it, absolutely anything is achievable.

• Annalee is really good at identifying people’s strength and weakness. She takes time to understand her team’s needs and what they want out of their job to ensure they are feeling fulfilled and happy at work.
• Annalee celebrates success through team email recognition, sharing feedback to ensure best practice and highlighting great work within the team. She rewards her team with champagne when they make important placements. She holds morning buzz meetings to see how the team are feeling and sets out the goals for the day – offering additional support to anyone with high workloads.
• The judges were impressed with her passion for ensuring her team are happy and healthy. She strives to create an environment where people want to come to work in, often gathering the team for a brainstorming session so they can voice what changes they feel should be made to the working day to create a better workplace.
• She believes in company values, and thrives working for a company that is not just about numbers but cares about their clients. In fact, Annalee has been known to turn down business from companies if they don’t align with Aspire’s values, such as not paying National Minimum Wage or having excessive contracted hours. It was plain she really cares about her staff, clients and candidates.

Judges’ comments:

“The judges were impressed by her focus on her team and the pride that being even nominated for this award brings to her team and the company. She proves that if you work hard, have the right values and do the right things you will succeed.”

Shortlist:

Dan Crocombe, Swanstaff Recruitment
Charles Kyriakou, Projectus Consulting
Martin Navne, Source Group International
Mirka Smucrova, Coyle Personnel
Ben Woodhouse, Hunter Bond

Winner: Ben Riley, Bramwith Consulting

Global director at procurement and supply chain recruiter Bramwith Consulting, Ben has been with the company for a decade now, joining as a high biller and continuing to set the bar high as an example to both new starters and top billers alike.

• Smart and articulate, the judges found Ben an excellent role model who clearly leads by example. He reads around his market and has built an ever-increasing library of procurement/supply chain, sales and motivational books, which consultants can borrow and read at their leisure, helping them to also improve their knowledge.
  
  
• A key part of Ben’s current role are the quarterly ‘Culture Meetings’, where staff can bring new ideas on how the business can improve, with agreed points being discussed in the monthly management meeting and rolled out in the next end of month presentation.
  
  
• As part of his responsibility for the management and growth of the global team, Ben clocks up an awful lot of flying time, travelling regularly to the US and Continental Europe. That hasn’t stopped him giving all employees a voice and helping staff feel fully engaged and part of something bigger than their own billing desk. Ben has created several roles in the company – such as CSR officer, D&I champion (Ben’s role) and Charity officer – which he has assigned to consultants who, like him, wish to take on more responsibility and help grow Bramwith.

Judges’ comments:

“Ben is completely focused on the importance of culture in his organisation, ‘recruiting for attitude’, which the judges appreciated. Clients describe him as honest and authentic, and the judges entirely recognised these qualities.”

Shortlist:

Paul Chapman, Gazelle Global Consulting

Winner: Nadia Edwards-Dashti, Harrington Starr

Managing director of the Financial Technology business, Nadia was one of the first three people at Harrington Starr and has been instrumental in growing the firm from a small room to an international business of 64 staff.

• Her inspirational story has seen her grow from top billing consultant to Managing Director of two brands and the driving force behind the company’s award winning learning and development programme. The cornerstone to Harrington Starr's growth, she has built a subsidiary brand in North Starr, which she has led to 184% growth in 2019 so far.
  
  
• Having not found recruitment easy at the start of her career, Nadia is able to help people develop the mentality to win and stand out. She will spend hours helping individuals work on specific skills that they struggle with, and she will often write and develop bespoke programmes to help them progress in their career. She has worked with countless consultants in helping them turn lost causes into success and makes people around her believe that anything is possible.
  
  
• Nadia’s own development has been astonishing. She is wholly committed to continuously improving her own skill sets and this dedication is infectious. She pushes herself into the ‘cringe zone’ – to see her speaking to audiences around the world on the subject of diversity is something she could never have imagined as a chronically shy new starter some years ago. And this confidence to change inspires all around her.
  
  
• She is an inspiration not only to staff at Harrington Starr but also to her client community. She has twice been on the Innovate Finance Women in Fintech Powerlist – the only recruiter on the list; she hosts the Women of Fintech podcast; co-presents Fintech Focus TV; and co-founded the Women of Fintech Social Community.

Judges’ comments:

“Nadia’s mantra is to ‘Get people better every day’ – a principle which she seems to live and breathe every day at Harrington Starr.”

Highly Commended:

David Stone, MRL Consulting Group

Shortlist:

Ryan Adams, Signify Technology
Danny Brooks, VHR
Christopher Clark, Definitum Search
Charmaine Vincent, Baltimore Consulting
Neil Wilson, Stanton House

Winner: Team Denmark, Venquis

Venquis is a business transformation recruitment firm providing interim and permanent professionals to organisations across UK and Europe. Team Denmark was formed in 2018 to expand Venquis’s services into Northern Europe.

• Remarkably, despite being London-based, not speaking Danish and never having worked in the Danish market before, the team has overcome all hurdles and built an impressive client and candidate base. Since inception in March 2018, Team Denmark has smashed all targets, generated over £1.5m in fees, grown to five people and delivered the largest ever digital transformation project in Denmark.
  
  
• Formed by Ella North, who was promoted internally to lead Team Denmark, her actions and examples help the other team members to become successful and learn from her inspiration. She was voted Employee of the Year in December 2018 by her colleagues at Venquis.
  
  
• The COOP Denmark wanted to re-position itself as the leading digital food retailer in Europe. This required a complete overhaul of all its IT legacy systems and a new 50+ employee PMO/IT department to replace the previous engaged consultancy firms. Through video technology alone, Team Denmark mapped out and screened over 280 European candidates in the space of three months to create a target pool. Within six months, all 50 senior positions had been filled.
  
  
• Projects such as the COOP Denmark has built a reputation in the region that has seen more than £500k in additional projects being won through referrals alone. Due to the success of the team and an ever-increasing client base, the team will double in size to 10 by the end of 2019.

Judges’ comments:

“In a tightly competing category, the judges were impressed by Venquis’s considerable commercial success and financial results, which were underpinned by the team’s passion not only for their own individual delivery but equally the focus on the quality of customer service.”

Highly Commended:

Oracle Contractors Twickenham, Oracle Contractors

Shortlist:

Coyle Medical, Coyle Personnel
Team Samuel Knight International, Samuel Knight International