Recruiters from across the recruitment community converged on London’s Governor House Hotel last week to celebrate the best of recruitment ’best practice’ at the Recruiter Awards for Excellence 2011, supported by Innovate CV.

More than 1,260 recruiters from up and down the land gathered in the Great Room at this year’s sell-out event to recognise the outstanding achievements of their peers and the industry as a whole.

DeeDee Doke, editor of Recruiter, noted that “challenging economic times” had taught recruiters that to achieve best practice, “sustainable success” was every bit as important as creativity, innovation and diversification. Sustainability had been “one of the key questions for this year’s judges”, she added.

This was an evening of insight, entertainment and the best networking event of the year PAUL MAXIN, GLOBAL RESOURCING DIRECTOR, UNILEVER

This year’s event featured 30 different Awards, three more than in 2010. New Awards included: Best Small Recruitment Agency, Best Large Recruitment Agency to Work For and Best Temporary Agency. Competition was hotter than ever, with more than 300 entries, making this the most competitive Awards ever.

Host for the night, comedian Dara O Briain, regaled the room with a series of stories (see pp12-13) that kept the audience entertained.

For the first time, the Recruiter Awards included a charitable element, with recruiters asked to donate to Soldier On!, a charity that helps injured services personnel find work. “I am sure you will agree, it’s a worthy cause,” said Doke. Donations for Soldier On! reached around £3,000 on the night. Grateful thanks to all who contributed.

Doke invited the audience to “enjoy the hard-earned fruits” of their labours, and they needed no second bidding, as the dancing, revelry and general conviviality continued long into the early hours.