Scottish firms taste success after tough year at s1jobs Recruitment Awards

Now in their 10th year, the awards once more celebrated companies and individuals whose commitment to finding strong candidates across all fields produce exceptional results.

And this year’s event, which took place against the backdrop of challenging conditions in the labour market, reached a climax with the Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. The award was presented to the human resources and recruitment teams of NHS Scotland, whose efforts throughout the pandemic were hailed for setting a new standard within the industry.

Last night’s ceremony gave the opportunity for hundreds of people in the industry to get together following two difficult years, and to toast the achievements of employers and HR and recruitment professionals during the last 12 months.

Winners included Zonal Retail Data Systems for Best In-House Recruitment Team, and Business Stream, for HR Team of the Year. Quarriers, the Scottish social care charity, received the Best Charity Employer (large) award, while the Best Charity Employer (small) prize went to Indepen-dance, a Glasgow-based dance company that provides opportunities for disabled and non-disabled dancers.

Scottish law firm Burness Paull was named Best Early Careers Employer and was also commended in the Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative category for its ongoing commitment to widening access to the legal profession for candidates from all backgrounds, with SMS taking the overall prize in the same category.

The Shona McKenzie Shine Award, presented annually to someone who has shown exceptional commitment, went to Liz Thomson of Balhousie Care Group, while Isabel Muller of Search Consultancy was named Recruitment Consultant of the Year.

Search Consultancy was also named Best Employer for Learning and Development. NFU Mutual scooped the prizes for both Best Recruitment Website and Best Recruitment Video, with VF winning Best Creative Idea. Iceland with Jupiter received the award for Best Recruitment Campaign and BT Group was victorious for its Best Early Careers Recruitment Campaign.

There were awards for iMultiply in both the Best Employer (small) and Best Candidate Acquisition Journey categories, while the University of Strathclyde was named Best Employer (large). The award for Best Recruitment Consultancy UK & International Operations went to Pertemps. Peace Recruitment was named as Best Recruitment Consultancy Scottish Operations, while the award for Best Recruitment Consultancy Newcomer went to Utopian Professional Recruitment.

Gavin Mochan, managing director of s1 said: “After such a challenging period it was hugely rewarding to be able to recognise the great work that is being done across the recruitment and HR sectors. We said when we launched this year’s awards that what mattered most in this industry was its people and last night’s examples of outstanding professionalism showed us the strength of the individuals who have maintained such high standards in the face of unforeseen challenges.

“The speed at which they responded to events was outstanding and we are now emerging from the pandemic with an HR and recruitment industry that is even more focused and effective than it was at the start.”

“Finding the right people for every job and creating the sort of work culture that encourages them to remain in position, is crucial not only to the success of organisations and businesses but also to the economy as a whole, so it is good to know that this sector is in such safe hands.”