The 2020 Wales HR Awards finalists have been announced following a record number of entries.
Launched in 2017 by leading recruitment agency Acorn and commercial law firm Darwin Gray, the fourth annual Awards will see 350 top HR professionals and organisations gather on 27 March at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff for a glittering twenties themed ceremony.
New for 2020 is an additional category – ‘Inspiring Great Leadership’ – and an external judging panel of industry experts from Sony UK, University of South Wales, ACT Training and Calland Wright Consulting.
Hosted by the BBC’s Sian Lloyd, the Awards will recognise outstanding HR professionals and teams performing in HR, learning, and people management roles across a variety of industries in Wales in the last 12 months.
Acorn’s Director of Permanent Recruitment, Pavan Arora said: “We are absolutely delighted as founders to see these awards continuing to go from strength to strength, with yet another new category and input from external judges.
“We are truly grateful to all those who continue to support us in recognising the best HR talent in Wales and have, as ever, been delighted with the volume and quality of entries received.”
Darwin Gray’s Head of Employment Law and HR, Fflur Jones added: “The continued success of the Wales HR Awards is testament to the amount of talent and quality of work in HR across Wales. It is for this reason that we are delighted each year to recognise those who work hard to improve and inspire their workforce.
“I am looking forward to turning back the clocks to the 1920s to celebrate with all of the finalists in March”.
Winners at the Wales HR Awards 2020 will follow in the footsteps of previous recipients including Bluestone, Companies House, Monmouthshire Building Society, Bangor University and more at the ceremony on 27 March, where the judge’s ‘HR Star’ of choice will also be revealed.
The first ever recipient of the ‘Inspiring Great Leadership’ Award, sponsored by the Institute of Leadership and Management, will also be announced as an organisation dedicated to improving its workforce and environment, and as a business with leadership at its heart and an employee engagement strategy which inspires and engages.
For more information on the finalists, visit www.waleshrawards.cymru. Ticket sales open on 29 January – follow @WalesHRNetwork for the latest updates – with early booking advisable due to the limited numbers available.
The Wales HR Awards 2020 finalists are:
| Category | Finalists |
| HR Apprentice / Trainee / Assistant of the Year Sponsored by ClearTech | 1. Lauren Goody, Effective HRM 2.Laurie Greenaway, Principality 3.Lauren Brooks, Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd |
| Best HR Initiative | 4. Gower College Swansea 5. Swansea Bay University Health Board 6. Shared Services Connected Ltd 7. Talis UK Ltd 8. Connect Assist |
| Best HR Professional – Digital / IT | 9. Richard Carter, Shared Services Connected Limited 10. Vicki Richards, Kagool |
| Inspiring Great Leadership Sponsored by Institute of Leadership and Management | 11. Gower College Swansea 12. Talis UK Ltd |
| HR Director of the year Sponsored by Human Resourcing | 13. Gemma Davies, Effective HRM 14.Vicki Richards, Kagool 15. Rhiannon Williams, Target Group |
| HR Consultancy of the Year | 16. Cobalt HR 17. Effective HRM 18. HR Dept |
| Best HR Professional – Manufacturing / Engineering Sponsored by Vorsor | 19. Eluned Evans, RPC-BPI 20. Peter Rees, Vale |
| Best HR Professional – Public / Third Sector Sponsored by Quantum Advisory | 21. Nicola Leybourne, Wales Co-operative Centre 22.Kathryn Jaggard, Newport City Homes 23. Emma Turner, Shared Services Connected Ltd |
| HR Team of the Year (Private sector) | 24. First Source Solutions 25.Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd 26. Welsh Rugby Union 27. SA Brain and Company Ltd 28.Principality 29.Burnspet |
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HR Team of the Year (Public sector) Sponsored by Choose to Grow | 30.Gower College Swansea 31. Hafod |