Blackbridge Communications wins Best Recruitment Website for Care UK at CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards 2012

Blackbridge Communications has won Best Recruitment Website at the CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards 2012, in recognition for its work for leading health and social care provider Care UK. Finalists included McQueen/Grant Thornton, Pink Squid/Kraft Foods, ThirtyThree/ITV, ThirtyThree/Wragge & Co, WMW/Which and Work Communications/J. P. Morgan.

Working in close partnership with Care UK, Blackbridge Communications created an industry-leading careers site powered by the Lumesse Talentlink applicant tracking system. Blackbridge ensured that the site spoke to diverse audiences and created a compelling story for an organisation that is relatively unknown outside its own sector. Already 17,000 people strong, Care UK's goal is to double in size over the next three to four years, which means recruiting some 8,000 people a year in a huge variety of roles, from Support Workers to GPs.

From clear candidate journeys that were highlighted with case studies and videos of successful employees, to an interactive map functionality - developed in-house - that allowed people to search for jobs on their doorstep, Blackbridge Communications made sure that the site met the needs of each individual.

This led CIPD judges to commend the site's user experience but also its look and feel, saying "It was business-like but showed they cared, without resorting to cheesy pictures of smiling old people or folk in wheelchairs". The judges concluded that the site was a "hidden gem".

Crucially, just one month after the careers website launched, there had been a 4,000% increase in the number of site visitors who then chose to make an application. Mike Parish, Care UK's CEO, said: "Successful resourcing is crucial to Care UK's future growth and our website is an intrinsic part of making this happen. The results so far have been fantastic with a big increase in applications."

ENDS

Notes to editors

Blackbridge Communications was founded in 2005 by an experienced group of media, advertising and communications specialists. We've become one of the fastest growing communications agencies in the UK and continue to break new ground, solving an increasingly wide range of communications issues, but without compromising our personality. Our London office in EC2 employs twenty-five people and is located in the old Bank of England print works.

Care UK is a leading independent provider of health and social care. Working in close partnership with local authorities, primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities (SHAs), the company draws on almost 30 years of experience to provide tailor-made service solutions, including residential, community, specialist, primary and secondary care.