It was the CIPD Awards last night and around about the same time that the Germans were dispatching the Portuguese at Euro 2008, another model of efficiency, with more than a hint of flair, tasted victory. We were nominated for Best Innovation and Best Diversity for our work for Brighton & Hove City Council and triumphed in the Diversity category. Considering the zombie like figures and bleary eyes present today, one can only assume that the richly deserved win was celebrated with equal determination. And rightly so.

Checkout our case studies section to see the award-winning work in all its glory.

I, along with the MDs of most of the UK’s top recruitment marketing agencies, attended a very strenuous RBI Summit for two days last week at Ashford Castle, County Mayo, Ireland. It was pretty tough as you can imagine but in between the socialising, we did receive a detailed analysis of the UK economy over the past three decades or so and, if things carry on as they are, warnings about just how nasty the impending downturn might be, particularly for companies like us who rely on our clients recruiting people! Every time in the past there’s been the merest sniff of a slow down, everyone stops spending and goes in to hibernation. And agencies like us catch a cold.

So, interesting that the UK’s recruitment marketing sector is still so strong. Like many other agencies, we’ve actually had a very good 2008 so far and, whilst there are bound to be clouds ahead - we’re pessimistic by nature - it seems that organisations across the board are defying the doom-mongers and continuing to recruit come what may. Certainly the Association of Graduate Recruiters, for example, are reporting significant growth for the foreseeable future. And 75% of recruitment marketing agencies are predicting growth at least until the end of the year.

As the RBI’s Economist kindly said, either we know something the Chancellor doesn’t, or we’re just rubbish at forecasting. Time will tell!

It was with some trepidation a few weeks ago that we decided to put our ‘Be Bold’ mantra to the test by sending many of our clients an online questionnaire to find out just what they think of us and our services. Most have come back now (with one or two notable exceptions - you know who you are!) and the feedback is really positive.

In a nutshell, 75% of respondents put the quality of client service in the top 2 categories out of 5 giving an overall rating of 3.9 out of 5. Creative received 3.6 out of 5, our digital services a pleasing 4.05 and our culture (ie. what are we like to work with) a very wonderful 4.3.

Perhaps the most pleasing statistic, though, was that 91% of the respondents said that they would happily recommend us to someone else in the future.

So, some room for improvement without a doubt and we have certainly taken on board all of the individual comments that were made along the way. But, it’s great to feel that we are on the right track and thanks to everone who contributed. Your tenners are in the post.