Newport has come out on top of the shortlist for this year’s The CIPD Awards in Wales.

The awards are for high standards of HR and people development practices and Newport has 11 nominations across nine categories.

Finalists from across Gwent include: finance broker, Propel Finance; Wales and West Utilities; Health Education and Improvement Wales with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; Newport City Council; Pobl; Intellectual Property Office, and returning 2023 winners Tiny Rebel Brewery and Coleg Gwent.

Head of The CIPD in Wales Lesley Richards said: “Newport has come out top in the nominations with so many of its organisations, businesses and individuals shortlisted and we had a record number of entries this year, making the competition stronger than ever before.

“We know that this year has added pressure to the roles of HR and people professionals across Wales as the skills shortage has impacted every industry. We want this year’s awards to recognise the hard work of those who have adapted to these challenges and have used it as an opportunity to strengthen our workforce and help improve the working lives of people across Wales.”

The awards will be judged by recognised industry professionals including: Stephen Layne, deputy director of Fair Work, Welsh Government; deputy chief executive and director of Workforce and Organisation Development, Health Education, and Improvement Wales, Julie Rogers; Chris Stokes, Head of HR for Coastal Housing Group; Lydia Stirling, people director for Welsh Rugby Union; Chief People Officer for South Wales Police, Mark Stevenson; Fiona Armstrong, group chief people officer for Moneypenny; and People and Transformation Director at the CIPD, Amanda Arrowsmith; who will be looking for extraordinary individuals and teams in Wales across HR, learning and people development.

The shortlisted finalists are:

Best Change Management Initiative, sponsored by Moxie People: Coastal Housing Group; HEIW with Aneurin Bevan UHB; Propel Finance; SSCL; and UK Space Agency

Best Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative, sponsored by Monmouthshire Building Society: Adra Housing Association; Alcumus; Bridgend College; Coleg Gwent; Dwr Cymru Welsh Water; Football Association of Wales; Intellectual Property Office; KLA; Office for National Statistics; Ogi; SSCL; Sport Wales; Transport for Wales; Wales & West Utilities; and Welsh Ambulance Service Trust

Best External Consultant/Consultancy, sponsored by Skylite: Insight HRC; Choose to Grow; Resolution at Work; Healthy HR Consultancy; Barrow HR; and SME Business Partners (Amy Foat)

Best In House Team, sponsored by Human Resourcing: Bridgend College; Coleg y Cymoedd; Hywel Dda University Health Board; Iceland Foods; Itec Skills and Employment; Neath Port Talbot Council; New Directions; Newport City Council; Ogi; and SedaUK.

Best Learning and Development Initiative, sponsored by ALS Training: Alcumus; BBC Cymru Wales; Coleg Gwent; Dwr Cymru Welsh Water; HR Casework in Partnership with MatchFit; Newport City Homes; Ogi; Resolution at Work; and SSCL.

Best Resourcing and Talent Management Initiative, sponsored by Hoop Human Resources: Alcumus; Darogan; Ministry of Justice; Ogi; SSCL; and Target Group

Best Well-being Initiative, sponsored by SSCL: ACT; Awen Cultural Trust; Companies House; DVLA; Freight Logistics Solutions; Gower College Swansea; Intellectual Property Office; Itec Skills and Employment; JG HR Solutions Limited; Monmouthshire Building Society; Mudiad Meithrin; Pobl Group; Swansea Bay University Health Board; The Menopause Team

Rising Star of the People Profession, sponsored by Cardiff Business School: Cerys Davies - Amber; Dan Blyth - Hywel Dda UHB; Hannah Scrivens - ONS; Jessica Davies - DVLA; Joe Lofts - Transport for Wales; Lucy Miles-Colwell - Neath Port Talbot Council; Lucy Young - Tiny Rebel; Phil Hawkins - Creditsafe; Robyn Mort - Neath Port Talbot Council; and Samantha Francis - DVLA

Excellence in HR leadership, sponsored by Hugh James: Cathryn Sims - Creditsafe; Genevieve Nock - New Directions; Hannah Hallett - Coleg Y Cymoedd; Lisa Hand - Ogi; Rebecca Cooper - ACT; and Rebecca Legge - Tiny Rebel.

The 2024 CIPD Wales Awards sponsors include: Welsh Government, Skylite, Monmouthshire Building, ALS Training, SSCL, Cardiff Business School, Hugh James, Moxie People, Human Resourcing, Paul Harris and Hoop Human Resources.