News

Penna’s Claire MacLeod recently had the privilege of leading a workshop at the 2023 AHUA conference. Find out more about her experience and how your institute can attract in-demand talent.

With job vacancies in the UK still at over 1 mill, could the retired 50-64 age group provide the answer? Find out how the changing attitude towards retirement may help to combat the current talent shortages. Read Tristan's full article now

Policy, Purpose, Politics. These are just three of the P’s that Julie recommended Local Government focus on when she spoke at the DCN Staff Development Programme...

As the war for talent rages on, join us as we talk to leading market experts..

Any Employer Value Proposition – particularly in this climate – needs to be forward-looking. But what does the future hold for EVPs themselves?...

We know how challenging recruiting and retaining social workers is, and how vital their work is.

Here at Penna, we want to help, not just in Social Work Week...

To celebrate Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2023, we sat down with our recent work experience placement, Dylan Conti, to talk about neurodiversity in the workplace.

The recruiting world has changed over the last few years, and it really is a job seekers market now. So, employers really have to think about what jobseekers want to see in order to attract the right talent.

It's always a pleasure to attend the District Councils’ Network (DCN) conference as it's a great opportunity to hear what's going on in the work of district councils...

Imagine this: You’ve just landed an interview for your dream role. You’ve got the passion, skills and experience. But midway through answering a question, your mind goes blank…

Change lives – through your leadership.

Zeynep Esen of Penna talks about the value of shadowing a local authority Director for a day.

We’re joined by leading industry figures as they address the shrinking candidate pool and how local government can look beyond its own industry to find undiscovered talent.

It seems like every second of every year a new technology is being rolled out into the world, and as we get our heads around...

Huge efforts have taken place in recent years to minimise discrimination in society and the workplace. These advances across...

Julie Towers of Penna chairs a webinar and asks….What’s changing and how can we do more?

Penna is delighted to announce its recent appointment as an approved supplier of executive recruitment services on...

Black History Month 2022’s theme is ‘Time for Change: Action, not Words’. So, we were delighted to have partnered with...

To kick off our Black History Month Event around Diversity in the Public Sector, our very own Dawar Hashmi opened up...

This excerpt from our Black History Month Event around Diversity in the Public sector needs little introduction...

Penna was proud to present ‘Diversity in the Public Sector – What has changed since the death of George Floyd’...

Our recent ‘Diversity in the Public Sector – What has changed since the death of George Floyd’...

Hearing from so many passionate industry leaders at our recent ‘Diversity in the Public Sector...

World Mental Health Day allows us all an opportunity to pause and think about ourselves and how we are feeling

We are so proud to showcase Tinuke’s amazing work in our office. Penna’s ‘Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion’, Alexis Curtis-Harris, sits down to find out more about the artist and the painting!

Penna proudly presented The MJ Senior Leadership Team Award at 2022’s ceremony to Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council. We caught up with their Deputy Chief Executive, Chris Sinnott, and Chief Executive, Gary Hall, to talk about how they united two district authorities, created change in their local communities, and about what they think won them the award.

Volunteers’ Week ran 1-7 June and is an annual event that has completed its 38^th year. The annual event is a chance to recognize the contribution volunteers make and to say thank you to everyone involved. Here at Penna, not only do we provide all our employees with a Volunteering Day every year, but we also encourage additional volunteering schemes.

This year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme is #BreakTheBias. At Penna and Stafford Long we wished to share our support by exploring perspectives from people across our business, to understand how they challenge bias and elevate the visibility of women in their work as trusted recruitment advisors. From our Managing Directors to those just starting out in their careers, we asked our employees “how do you pledge to break biases towards women in your work at Penna and Stafford Long?”

Penna is delighted to announce that in February, Dawar Hashmi will be joining us as a Director in our Executive Search business. Find out more about his new role, and ambitions for local government executive recruitment. 

Our Senior Consultant with CIPFA-Penna, Jonathon Sheppard, caught up with John Betts to talk through what an average day looks like as a busy Finance interim.

Penna is proud to be a signatory to the new Care Leavers’ Employer Friendly Charter, the launch of which took place on Thursday, 28 October 2021. Julie Towers, our Managing Director and member of the CLC Business Council, spoke about her commitment to the principles of the charter and her hope for a better future for care leavers. Read on to find out more and sign up to the charter!

Today is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and some of our Penna family members - Louise Darkwah, Leah James and Alexis Curtis-Harris - joined our Penna Podcast to have an open and honest discussion around the ongoing impact of the slave trade on Black communities.

From TikTok to the trends making students tick, Robert Gordon University have produced some seriously innovative marketing of late. On this episode of Penna Podcasts our Education Client Manager, Andy Collins, had a virtual coffee with RGU's Senior Marketing Manager, Sarah Gilmour, to find out what's on their marketing horizon during the Clearing period.

At Penna, we don't just celebrate young people – we welcome early careers talent into our family. And so, for early careers month, we speak to Louise Darkwah, our new Diversity and Inclusion Delivery Manager.

When clients ask us, “What’s your best asset?” we tell them, it’s our people. At Penna, we call ourselves a family because we support, celebrate, accept and value everyone. So you can imagine our adulation when we heard from our newest Family member, Copywriter, Jane Jardine, with three things she’s learnt in just one month, working with us. Here are Jane’s insights, in her own words.

We're celebrating International Youth Day at Penna, which this year takes the theme of ‘Transforming food systems. Youth innovation for human and planetary health'. We asked some of our family 'What’s one thing you’re doing to protect the planet for the youth of tomorrow?'. Here’s what they said.

For early careers month, our D&I Lead, Alexis Curtis-Harris speaks to two Penna family members just starting their careers; Jessika Dawar (Research Assistant: Marketing and Bids) and Leah James (Marketing Intern).

On this episode of Penna's podcast, we're exploring the all-things assessment and selection. Assessment is a vital step in securing candidates, from Chief Executives to Graduates. Our in-house Business Psychologist and Head of Assessment Ann Hartley takes us through the possibilities provided by virtual assessment centres.

Thank you to every interim who took time to share their insights in the 2021 IIM Survey. Read the reflections from the Penna team here. 

In this edition of Penna Podcasts we look at the career of one of the most respected marketing minds in higher education; Ailie Ferrari. Penna's Head of Education, Jane Johns, talks to Ailie about the shifts in student attraction she's seen through her career, her ambitions for her new role with the University of Bradford and more.

This week on Penna's podcast, we take a deep dive into the wonderful world of virtual events. Penna's experts Lara Dawson and Emma Cremnitz offer their take on creating an amazing virtual experience; from tackling video call fatigue to gamification and cutting edge platforms.

Working remotely now for a lot of us isn’t a new thing. But one aspect that does feel a little unfamiliar is onboarding. The whole process is completely remote, so how should onboarding be done and how can new employees be made to feel comfortable when they haven’t met you in person?

Penna are delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Tromans to our Executive Search Practice.

To mark Black Inclusion Week our Commercial Director, Sue Atkinson, sat down with Penna's in-house diversity and inclusion expert Alexis Curtis-Harris. Alexis has worked on award-winning projects for clients including Bank of England and has transformed the way we approach our own D&I journey at Penna.

On this episode of Penna Podcasts we're joined by Educations Media Group Account Director Sarah Messenger. Through the global platform educations.com Sarah supports universities with their international student recruitment.

This episode on Penna Podcasts we're discussing the actions universities should take to reach and engage parents and carers in the student marketing mix. Parents and carers are important stakeholders and must be considered as a key voice in university selection.

UA92 is a game-changing educational experience designed to unlock greatness, from the Class of 92 and Lancaster University. In our first episode, Penna Education's Senior Client Manager Jack Thorogood talks to them about the journey of the university, from a basement in Old Trafford five years ago, to the unique education experience they offer to students today.

Penna's Commercial Director Sue Atkinson introduces Penna's new podcast series. Subscribe for up-to-the-minute insights on all things people and talent. Plus exclusive interviews of leading lights in our networks of CEOs, HRDs, D&I leads and more.

Toni Hall, Director of Public Sector Executive Interim, looks at the practicalities of managing your mental wellbeing as an Interim manager.

At Penna we’re privileged to work with front-line staff from social care, to the NHS, higher education, to the emergency services

Our Director of Public Sector Executive search, Ben Cox, caught up with Matt Prosser to talk through what an average day looks like as a busy Chief Executive of a large unitary authority.

This National Apprenticeship Week, Penna celebrates student talent in a new partnership with MyKindaFuture.

A lot can change in 2 years and it certainly did for Penna Consultant and Executive Interim specialist, Zeynep Livatyali-Esen

How can the Higher Education sector capitalise on transferable skills when recruiting? Jon Dilling, Penna’s Sourcing Lead, looks at the options available to HR colleagues in HE.

Our Sourcing Lead Jon Dilling reflects on the last year, offering his insight and top tips for HR professionals recruiting in the public sector in 2021.

Two new recruits join the CIPFA-Penna Practice this September as part of Penna’s team expansion in the north of England...

There is no mistaking that this is a defining moment for local government; the COVID-19 crisis will change the way Councils...

Much of the coverage of the COVID-19 response has focused on the capital. But organisations outside London are...

Jon Dilling looks at trends and future predictions for the changing role of middle managers. Those at delivery level have...

Organisations are investing significant time in “re-imaging and re-thinking” many aspects of the #futureofwork.

Class of ’21 are a unique breed of candidates, shaped by their experiences of the digital world and COVID-19’s career and academic curtailing influence...

In part 1 of our Class of ’21 series, we looked at the impact of Covid-19 on the Class of ‘21 and their university experience...

Penna are delighted to announce that Helen Alwell and Josh Bembridge have been promoted to the position of Senior Consultants. They have been delivering a high-quality service to both candidates as well as clients, and the entire team at Penna joins in congratulating them!