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12.12.2021

APR Finalists at Investors in People Awards

Earlier this year, we were delighted to hear that we had been shortlisted for an Investors in People (IIP) Award in the category ‘Employer of the Year: Accredited’.

We began working with IIP in the summer of 2020 when they carried out their initial assessment of APR and awarded us their Standard Accreditation. The feedback and recommendations that came from the process have been just as valuable to us as the accreditation itself and we have been working hard to implement IIP’s suggested changes since then, partly with an eye on seeking higher level accreditation in the near future. It was therefore really satisfying to hear that our good work had been noticed and that APR could be in line for an Award.

An opportunity to look back

As part of our award submission we were asked to answer a few questions about what we’ve been up to as a business recently. This gave us a chance to reflect on how much has gone on at APR in the last 18 months. Looking back, we’ve definitely been busy, and our staff have gone to a fantastic effort in order to make it all happen. The toughest part of the submission was undoubtedly fitting everything within the word limit!

A few of the developments that we were able to highlight to the judges were:

What the judges had to say

We were really pleased with the feedback we had from the judges on our submission. They highlighted positives such as our 25% year-on-year growth. Our diversification and future expansion plans got a shout out, as well as how crucial our people are to delivering these. They also mentioned our open culture and our approach of prioritising the long-term capability of our staff over short-term profit.

Looking forward, the judges also offered us some guidance for the future, suggesting that we clarify our three-year plan and set out success criteria so we know when we’ve achieved it. This will support our work in the early part of next year, and hopefully improve our submission for next year’s awards!

And so onto the event itself

The culmination of all of this was, of course, the ceremony itself on 23rd November. The event had to be held remotely this year but nonetheless we were determined to make a celebration of it. While some staff gathered in our London office for a few drinks, other colleagues joined remotely. We were treated to an evening of comedy, magic and light shows while we waited, tension steadily increasing, for the big reveal. Finally, the nominees for our category were announced, our name up in lights, and we held our collective breath.

And the winner was…

Unfortunately, not APR. However we really enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate our nomination and the successes we’ve had in getting this far. The celebrations on the day were continued into the evening with a trip to the local pub where we had yet more triumph with our team winning the pub quiz, so it was a great occasion all round and we certainly hope we’ll be in contention again next year.

Congratulations to David Jameson Roofing Services Ltd as well as all the other winners and nominees on the night, and many thanks to Investors in People for hosting the event.

Sammy Ford

December 2021