Maria Hawley, our early careers team and colleagues from our HR team will be attending a ceremony at The Brewery in London on Tuesday 6 December in the hope of winning one of many prestigious HR Excellence Awards. These awards showcase best practice and offer a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate our HR professionals and initiatives.
Maria, Head of HR, joined us in 2012 as a sole HR practitioner supporting 220 employees and 8 offices. She now leads a team of 12, covering the full HR spectrum, meeting the needs of our 750 employees. She has over 20 years’ experience and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Amanda Davies, Senior HR Manager said: “Maria leads from the front and is always on hand to offer support, she is one of the most real and caring people I have ever been lucky enough to work with. She has unfaltering compassion which comes so naturally to her, she genuinely wants to support people to be the best they can be. She is one in a million and I wish her the very best of luck.”
We have also been shortlisted for the best early careers strategy category. Our HR and Graduate teams collaborate to deliver an early careers strategy that supports more than 100 graduates, one-year placements and summer placements, making up more than 10% of our workforce.
Partner, Ruth Ofield, who heads up our graduate team said: “We are really excited about being shortlisted for an award. I am proud to have this role and love meeting so many enthusiastic and talented people. To be recognised for our early careers programme is testament to the strength of the programme and subsequent progression opportunities. I would like to wish all finalists the best of luck in the final.”
