In a tight recruitment market, a good candidate experience can help a brand stand out from its competitors. We shortlist the companies showcasing personalised and engaging experiences for new and potential hires in the Personnel Today Awards 2025 candidate experience category.
Aegon UK
In 2024, Aegon realised that it could improve its joining experience. Research showed that both external candidates and internal movers faced inconsistent, outdated processes and the company offered a candidate experience that was behind the market. It reimagined the entire journey from vacancy requirements to onboarding – embedding its brand narrative, simplifying processes and integrating tools such as Workday and Docusign. The result was a smarter, faster and more human-centred experience.
In the discovery phase, Aegon gathered feedback from test groups, analysed its current talent acquisition processes and asked hiring managers what was needed. A new joiner survey identified key themes and allowed the company to find pain points and ‘map’ out the user journey.
Externally, the team looked at social channels and review sites. They ultimately mapped the entire talent acquisition process from requirement to 90 days in role, identifying areas for improvement.
The transformation centred around five ‘journeys’: getting started; reaching the best people; making an offer; pre-boarding; and induction. The revised experience has attracted more applications than ever before, with a 107% increase in career hub traffic.
The number of new colleagues hired in 2024 increased 38% compared to the year before, saving a significant amount by reducing reliance on third-party agencies. Over 500 managers were upskilled in the new joining experience and the engagement scores of new starters well exceeded targets at 92%, outperforming the industry benchmark.
bp retail in partnership with PageUp
Since 2005, bp retail has partnered with M&S Food to offer premium food at around 300 bp sites nationwide. In 2024, the organisation faced a turning point and needed to take a more selective approach to hiring, which meant a 34% drop in open vacancies. It needed to keep candidates engaged despite there being fewer roles available and shift the focus from quantity to quality. Every experience during the recruitment process had to be meaningful, honest, and reflect the organisation as an employer.
To achieve this, it removed unnecessary steps during the application – instead of lengthy forms, it introduced a quick apply option that would take less than 10 minutes, alongside CV parsing and autofill to make things quicker. Applicants find everything they need to know about a role on one page, with job descriptions written in plain, gender-neutral language. Short videos from employees give candidates a view of life at bp retail, replacing generic images with real people. More than two-thirds of applications come via mobile, so the company ensured the process was optimised for any device. The selection and interview process is made clear, and candidates receive preparation guides to help them feel confident.
Both first and final stage candidates receive a call within 48 hours. Successful candidates get regular calls before their start date and receive a welcome package on their first day. Applications to bp retail rose in 2024 by 16%, and applications per vacancy rose by 76%, with the quick apply function playing an important part in improvements. More candidates accepted offers, and there was stronger performance in translating interviews to offers, thanks to clearer communication, better tools and a more thoughtful and personalised experience.
Bunzl Cleaning and Hygiene Supplies
Bunzl Cleaning and Hygiene Supplies (BCHS) is a leading UK provider of cleaning and janitorial equipment. Despite being part of FTSE 100 company Bunzl Group, the organisation struggled with brand recognition, inefficient hiring processes, and a poor candidate experience. Hiring managers found the applicant tracking system difficult to use, time-to-hire stretched beyond 35 days, and candidates were often confused by the multitude of Bunzl-related platforms.
In response, BCHS launched its ‘Fresh Start’ initiative in July 2024, shifting recruitment strategy away from traditional, qualifications-focused approaches. The company began showcasing its values, culture, and roles through authentic video content, created in collaboration with branch managers, HR, and marketing. These videos, featuring real employees, gave candidates a genuine insight into life at the company. A new careers page, candidate packs, and accessible materials were developed to simplify and humanise the application process.
BCHS also partnered with specialist recruiters to streamline hiring, enabling hiring managers to focus on high-value interactions. The integration of AI-driven onboarding in early 2025 ensured every new starter received a consistent and engaging introduction to the company. The impact has been substantial. Time-to-hire dropped to as low as 14 days, vacancy fill rates reached 97%, and agency spend fell significantly. Most importantly, candidate feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. With ‘Fresh Start’, BCHS has both improved recruitment outcomes and transformed hiring into a meaningful, candidate-centric journey.
Charles Taylor Assistance
Charles Taylor Assistance provides medical, security and claims assistance to the travel insurance sector. It faced an acute recruitment challenge following the pandemic as global travel returned. Customer demand was surging and the company needed to scale up rapidly, while competing for talent in a crowded customer service market. It needed to hire quickly but also attract candidates who embodied the empathy, resilience and composure essential to its mission, making every candidate feel valued even if they were unsuccessful.
It transformed its hiring approach, embedding fairness at every stage through inclusive job adverts, unconscious bias training and a robust, behaviour-based scoring system. The application process was simplified to remove unnecessary barriers, and every candidate received a response, reinforcing a respectful experience. Immersive assessment centres replaced traditional interviews, and candidates were offered real insight into the jobs via role play, simulated calls and collaborative tasks. This meant both sides could assess cultural fit. Charles Taylor Assistance was able to give immediate verbal offers, personalise the onboarding process, and develop inclusive training.
In just three years, staff numbers have increased by 65%, attrition has dropped by nearly 40%, and most roles are now filled directly through internal recruiters. With interview-to-hire turnaround down to two weeks and outstanding feedback from candidates, the company’s recruitment process is now a powerful extension of its brand.
MBDA in partnership with Meet & Engage
Complex weapon systems specialist MBDA has historically invested significant recruitment and brand expertise into attracting both early careers and experienced candidates, including ex-forces. The aim is to provide all candidates with a supportive experience, but it felt that the onboarding offered by its applicant tracking system did not offer a sufficiently nuanced experience. Its key challenges included brand awareness (people often assumed a weapons company would embody certain stereotypes); supporting candidates in their transition to becoming an employee; engagement during lengthy pre-employment checks; and helping new starters to settle in their role.
It partnered with Meet & Engage to offer an onboarding platform that would include branded content for early-career and experienced hires, in-built FAQ and feedback chatbots, and integration with the ATS. A personalised onboarding portal would feel like an MBDA-branded social feed, keeping candidates engaged and confident between receiving an offer and starting work. Portals are customised for each stage of the process, and include videos, wall posts, social links and feedback. Candidates are prompted to complete necessary paperwork, and there is a workplace skills chatbot supporting early-career employees’ professional development.
All of the experienced hires who have come through the portal say it is easy to use, and 97% of early-career candidates found this to be the case. One candidate described it as an “amazing onboarding experience, I already feel part of the team”. Hiring managers report that new starters are much better prepared to begin their new roles, and candidates regularly share positive feedback on how welcome they feel.
TP UK
Customer relationship management company TP UK faced the challenge of recruiting over 7,000 employees in 2024, including 2,500 within a 28-week public sector campaign. It had identified major shortcomings in its candidate and onboarding experience, including communication gaps, siloed teams, technical issues, and inconsistent handovers. The company was experiencing high drop-off rates and a disconnect between recruitment and induction. In a tight labour market, this threatened both operational efficiency and employer reputation.
In response, it launched a cross-functional transformation programme, uniting recruitment, HR, onboarding, IT and operations under a single mission: to create a seamless, human-led and insight-driven candidate journey. It formed a dedicated orientation team, redesigning the recruitment journey so it was tailored to specific skills. Social value became a central pillar of the strategy, with a focus on offering opportunities to underrepresented candidates through training and guaranteed interviews.
Tech-enabled solutions played a major role. The OPRA chatbot offered 24/7 onboarding support, resolving over 21,000 candidate interactions. A mobile-first pre-boarding site, offshore compliance hubs, real-time dashboards, and automated IT setup further streamlined the experience. Human touchpoints were carefully preserved through buddy systems, structured check-ins, and a digital induction led by senior leadership.
Offer-to-start conversions and 90-day retention rates improved significantly, and onboarding customer satisfaction scores hit 9.6/10. Delayed starts dropped substantially. More than a tenth of hires have been supported through upskilling programmes and employability initiatives, delivering more than £2.5 million in social value. Every candidate now experiences the same sense of welcome, care, and confidence, long before they log in or walk through the door, the company says.
XPO Logistics
XPO Logistics recognised that its outdated, manual onboarding process no longer reflected the company’s dynamic, people-first culture. Reliant on spreadsheets and inconsistent communication, the approach was inefficient and failed to deliver the seamless experience today’s candidates expect. With business growth accelerating and a strong employer brand to uphold, XPO set out to completely transform its candidate journey from the first touchpoint.
A new digital onboarding platform was implemented, integrating directly with HR systems to provide tailored, accessible, and automated onboarding journeys. This shift not only reduced administrative burden and errors, but significantly improved efficiency and freed up HR and operational resources. XPO also revitalised its employer branding through a dedicated UK careers site, enriched with inclusive content celebrating its Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award, graduate pathways, and diverse culture. A one-click application process, backed by automated updates and gender-neutral communication, ensured that candidates felt supported from the outset.
The selection process balances structure with empathy. There are behavioural interviews, pre-interview briefings, flexible formats, and a clear framework aligned to XPO’s core values. This helps to uncover authentic potential while easing candidate anxiety. Consistent feedback and touchpoints further enhance the experience, alongside post-start surveys that inform continuous improvements.
New starter engagement has risen by 8%, with 100% of recent hires reporting a positive experience, pride in joining, and intent to stay beyond 12 months. Through digital innovation and genuine care, XPO has redefined its candidate experience as one rooted in inclusion, clarity, and long-term success.
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