Congratulations to our 2026 Finalists

Best Place to Work – Large (>5,000)

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Kier Group 
MBDA 
Mott MacDonald 
Octopus Energy 
S&P Global 

Best Place to Work – Medium (1,000 – 5,000)

Finalists:

Benefact Group 
Burges Salmon 
Cooper Parry 
Hakim Group 
McCarthy & Stone 
PPHE Hotel Group 
RAC
Wilson

Best Place to Work – Small (<1,000)

Finalists:

Clarion Solicitors
Dow Jones
Expereo
Gearset
Protection Group International
Redgate Software
Ryan
Shoptimised
Zinc

Candidate Assessment

Finalists:

AWE (supported by Spotted Zebra) 
British Airways 
BT 
NELFT NHS Foundation Trust 
RAC 
RDT 
Toyota (supported by Unseen Group) 
Zurich Insurance 

Candidate Experience

Finalists:

Arval BNP Paribas 
BT 
Dorothy House Hospice Care 
Grant Thornton UK 
Kier Group 
MBDA 
Police Scotland (supported by Oleeo) 
SGN 
Thames Water (supported by Tazio) 
Virgin 

Career Site

Finalists:
Barchester Healthcare 
British Heart Foundation 
Brunning & Price 
Dnata Catering UK 
KFC UK&I (supported by Chatter Communications) 
Morrisons (supported by Chatter Communications) 
Peterborough City Council 
Telegraph 
The Lego Group 
Vision Express 
West Brom Building Society

Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Strategy

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

British Airways 
HCRG Care Group 
Just Eat Takeaway 
Kier Group 
Leonardo Hotels 
Mott MacDonald 
Octopus Energy 
Sopra Steria 
United Utilities 
Zurich Insurance 

Early Careers Initiative

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

AWE (supported by Spotted Zebra) 
Bishop Fleming 
CBRE 
Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult 
Cooper Parry 
Environment Agency in partnership with Sopra Steria (supported by Oleeo) 
Lift Schools 
Mondelez International 
Specsavers 

Employer Brand

Finalists:

Axiologik 
DNV 
EG on the Move 
Flogas 
Kier Group 
Leonardo Hotels 
Medik8 (supported by Chatter Communications) 
Octopus Energy 
Royal London (supported by Chatter Communications) 
Screwfix (supported by MSL) 
The Lego Group 

Executive Search Strategy

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Arval BNP Paribas 
Burges Salmon 
CBRE 
Grant Thornton UK 
GSK 
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 
Sopra Steria 

High-Growth Hiring Strategy

Finalists:

BT 
Cooper Parry 
EG on the Move 
HMRC 
Oviva 
PPHE Hotel Group 
PTSG – Premier Technical Services Group 
RAC 
Version 1 

In-house Recruiter (Individual)

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Lauren Clutterbuck – Arval BNP Paribas
Anastasia Walker-McGrath – Boots
Nadia Hemmings – Clarion Solicitors
Maddie Gainsford – Halfords 
Bee Pevy – Lift Schools
Kaz Austen – Old Mill
Vaneeta Addhate – Serenity Specialist Care
Jack Fox – VodafoneThree
Natalie Winterton-Whitfield – ZEAL Creative

In-house Recruitment Leader (Individual)

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Kristi Robson – Arm
Louise Mead – Arval BNP Paribas 
Raj Gill – BT
Gareth Bowley – Dorothy House Hospice Care
Alex Benton – Halfords
Jane Lee-Isted – Halfords 
Ed Cockcroft  – InHealth Group
Karina Oluwo – La Fosse
Oliver Smith – PTSG
Richard Matthews – Royal London
Lucy O’Rourke – SGN
Alex Walker – Tandem Bank
Hayley Broomfield – Universal Music Group – UK & Ireland

Internal Mobility

Finalists:

Arval BNP Paribas 
CBRE 
Informa 
La Fosse 
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 
Octopus Energy 
Sopra Steria 

Newcomer (Team)

Finalists:

Ipsum Utilities 
PTSG

Onboarding Strategy

Finalists:

Axiologik 
EG on the Move 
Faculty 
MBDA (supported by Unseen Group) 
NatWest Group 
Windsor Forest Colleges Group (supported by Tribepad) 

Outsourced In-house Recruitment Team (RPO / Embedded Solution)

Finalists:

Cogito Talent onsite at Arval BNP Paribas
Chapter 2 onsite at Collinson 
Dynamite Recruitment onsite at Churches Fire and Security (supported by Bluestones Group)
Join Talent onsite at Synopsys
PeopleScout onsite at Virgin Media O2
PeopleScout onsite at Environment Agency
RJA Consulting onsite at Warburtons
Talentshed onsite at Vision Express

Recruitment Innovation

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Arval BNP Paribas 
AWE (supported by Spotted Zebra) 
Barchester Healthcare 
EG on the Move 
Grant Thornton UK 
Ministry of Justice 
Mondelez International 
Oviva 
Virgin 
Wokingham Borough Council 

Recruitment Marketing Campaign

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Bank of America (supported by MSL) 
Barchester Healthcare 
Capgemini 
EG on the Move 
Halfords 
Kier Group 
Lift Schools 
Northern 
Sanctuary Care 
Spire Healthcare 
The Lego Group 
The Openwork Partnership 
Vision Express 

Recruitment Team – Large (> 5,000 employees)

Finalists:

Amey 
Barchester Healthcare 
Boots 
Calgary Communications 
Halfords 
NHS Property Services 
Octopus Energy 
Serco 
Spire Healthcare 
Varroc Engineering 

Recruitment Team – Medium (1,000 – 5,000 employees)

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

British Heart Foundation 
CBRE 
Celnor Group 
Cooper Parry 
HEINEKEN UK 
Lift Schools 
PTSG – Premier Technical Services Group 
SGN 
Telegraph Media Group Holdings 
Wiltshire Police 

Recruitment Team – Small (<1,000 employees)

Finalists:

Arval BNP Paribas 
Blue Light Card 
Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult 
Faculty
Gearset 
Horton Housing 
Playground Games 
Rightmove 
RoslinCT 
Tandem Bank 

Use of AI

Finalists:

Boots (supported by Poetry) 
BT Group (supported by Sapia.ai) 
Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult 
DXC Technology 
Just Eat Takeaway 
La Fosse Academy 
Merlin Entertainments (supported by Spotted Zebra) 
Morningstar 
Ryan 
Sopra Steria 
Version 1 

Use of Technology

Proudly Partnered by:

Finalists:

Cooper Parry (supported by Unseen Group) 
Horton Housing (supported by Tribepad) 
Merlin Entertainments (supported by Spotted Zebra) 
Newton Consulting (supported by Oleeo) 
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (supported by Oleeo) 
RS Group 
Specsavers 
Spire Healthcare 
Virgin 
Vision Express 

Video Campaign

Finalists:

Asda (supported by Chatter Communications) 
BBC Studios 
Benefact Group 
DNV 
DPD 
Halfords 
McCarthy & Stone 
RDT 
The Openwork Partnership 
TrustFord