Recruitment Leaders find House of Lords diversity event 'inspiring'

Recruitment leaders from APSCo’s L20, a select group of the largest organisations represented by the trade body, last week enjoyed an inspirational address from Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE at an exclusive diversity dinner at the House of Lords.

The event, which was kindly sponsored by Mishcon de Reya, was attended by senior representatives from firms including: Alexander Mann Solutions, Capita, Manpower Group, Gattaca Plc, Resource Solutions Group Plc, SThree Group, Pertemps Professional Recruitment, Randstad UK, Rullion Ltd, Sopra Steria Recruitment Ltd, Venn Group, Hydrogen Group PLC, Volt and Resource Solutions.

Champion swimmer, Lord Christopher Holmes, represented Great Britain in four Paralympic Games between 1988 and 2000, picking up nine gold medals in the process. On the evening he inspired attendees with anecdotes about his experiences of the Paralympic Games and shared his own story of overcoming adversity to achieve phenomenal success. He also offered insight into the future of talent, praising companies which are already demonstrating best practice disability inclusion, such as Channel 4.

Reflecting on the event, Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, said:

“Executive dinners of this kind give a small group of individuals with similar interests and challenges a chance to network in a comfortable environment. Bringing together leaders from some of the largest professional sector recruitment firms in the UK in this way facilitates the highest level of peer-to-peer best practice discussion. When we’re dealing with an issue as important as disability inclusion, these events are invaluable. We are honoured that Lord Holmes was able to join us on the evening. Feedback on his address was, as you could well imagine, overwhelmingly positive.”

Andrew Anastasiou, Managing Director at Pertemps Professional Recruitment commented:

“A thoroughly enjoyable evening in a stunning location! It was so pleasing to see so many leaders from our industry discussing the key issues surrounding Disability and Inclusion. Many thanks to Lord Holmes for his engaging and inspiring speech and to APSCo for putting on the event! Pertemps is a committed equal opportunities employer and is fully committed to a policy of treating all of its employees and job applicants equally.”

Richard Herring, Managing Director / Senior Vice President, Volt, added:

“Monday was a special evening indeed. To hear from such an inspirational figure as Lord Holmes and share experiences, thoughts and ideas with industry leaders, all in the illustrious and historic surroundings of the House of Lords, how could it not be special? Lord Holmes brought to life the subject of diversity and the challenges and opportunities for disabled talent in the workplace, giving us all something to think about more deeply. It was a privilege to be present.”

Lord Holmes commented:

"I was delighted to speak at APSCo’s event. Recruiters have a major role to play in enabling talent, removing barriers and helping to close the disability employment gap."

- Ends

Notes to editors:

APSCo is the membership body that is dedicated to representing professional recruitment in the UK. It was formed to give all firms involved in the recruitment of professional talent who have a commitment to excellence, the specialist support and distinctive voice they need to be successful. It gives candidates and employers a trusted badge of quality whilst providing member firms with an innovative range of services designed for them by recruitment experts. These services, combined with its growing international profile, commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and opportunities for professional networking give APSCo members a unique opportunity to develop their businesses and gain competitive advantage (http://www.apsco.org).

Carly Smith
BlueSky PR
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