CIPD RMAs: Hodes takes Grand Prix for Herts Constabulary

On Tuesday 30^th June - an evening better suited to Bermuda shorts than black tie - the CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards for 2009 were presented at the Honourable Artillery Company Gardens in London.

For the second year running the prizes were well distributed across the agency spectrum, with eight different agencies winning category awards and in-house entries accounting for a further couple.

Bernard Hodes took the Grand Prix, as well as the recruitment effectiveness award, for Hertfordshire Constabulary's Voluntary Police Officers (special constables) campaign.  aia won three awards - outdoor and press ad (both for the Met Police) and graduate (for QinetiQ).  TMP Worldwide picked up the writing and campaign awards for Jaguar Land Rover, and JWT & MediaCom also bagged a brace for Shell in the digital and innovation categories.

ThirtyThree won the literature award for Burges Salmon and, in conjunction with Peer Group, took the employer brand award for Merck Serono.  Euro RSCG Riley triumphed in the art direction category for the University of Teesside, while 'andsome picked up the new candidate experience award for Paul UK.  The COI & LIDA won in the website category for the RAF, and the two awards credited to ‘in house' went to AXA (for diversity) and Orange (for internal comms).

Guests were welcomed to the ceremony by Adam Freeman, commercial director of the Guardian (the Awards' long-term media partner).  He was followed on stage by CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme, who reminded the audience that last year she had suggested the talent crunch was more important than the credit crunch.  This year there would be no predictions, she promised, and the focus of the evening would simply be on celebrating the fantastic examples of recruitment innovation served up by the industry.

Enthusiastically hosted by John Barrowman, the fifteen category awards were presented before the ceremony reached its climax - the 2009 Grand Prix, the top accolade drawn from all the various category winners.  Co-chair of judges Adam Winterton (MD of Euro RSCG Riley) noted that his colleagues had described Hodes' winning entry as "stunning, brave and innovative - highly creative work that delivered results for a very modest budget."  Ri5 adds its congratulations to all the winners and commiserations to the losers (of whom there have been a few this week).

●  Although - as the above results indicate - neither Barkers, TCS nor Penna featured among the winners, much of the evening's conversation inevitably focused on the hastily-concluded deal between the three organisations.  Rather poignantly, the shadow of Barkers still loomed large in PM's latest Guide to Recruitment Marketing, published just in time for the awards ceremony.  In the listings section it was notable for being the only agency to post nine-figure billings, while a full-page display ad ironically highlighted the business's longevity and durability.  "In 2009, choose a partner with history," read the copy.  Now, of course, Barkers is history.