With the 2024/25 financial year having drawn to a close, we held our annual End of Year conference. This event sees us reflect on the internal successes over the past year and announce the winners of our internal Core Values Awards.

About the CRS End of Year Conference

This event sees us bring all teams from Portsmouth, London and Manchester together to reflect on the successes of the past year and plans for the year ahead. Following the conference, the evening is dedicated to celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of all teams and brands within the organisation over the preceding 12 months.

This year, we decided to change our usual schedule to host the conference in the afternoon, followed by evening celebrations, including our annual internal Core Values awards. After the recent merger of Compass Executives and Carter Schwartz, we also welcomed our newly merged Compass Carter Osborne team to the conference.

What are the Compass Core Value Awards?

Before the conference, the internal leadership team takes a retrospective glance at the past twelve months to review our internal Core Values Awards. These accolades are subsequently bestowed at our End of Year Conference, providing a platform to commend remarkable acts of altruism, emblematic of the CRS culture.

Each of these awards keeps our vision and purpose at the heart of them but are split into categories focusing on Dedication, Building Relationships and Offering Solutions.

The Core Values Awards Category winners

The internal leadership team faced a challenging task in choosing the winners for each category, but the following nominees stood out for their exceptional contributions to their respective Compass brands and the broader business.

Dedicated category nominations and winner

• Christian Hannam (Compass Associates USA) – WINNER
• Jon Mondey (Compass Associates)
• James Pryke (Compass Recruitment Solutions)
• Lexxy Sturgess (Compass Recruitment Solutions)
• Louise Lavelle (Carrot Recruitment)

Why was Christian chosen as this year’s Dedicated Category winner?

“An internal transfer to a startup division after a successful six-year tenure in Elderly Care is a bold move, but Christian has shown exceptional dedication to minimising this risk. Since transferring, his contributions have been outstanding. Frequently working into the early hours, he consistently goes the extra mile, deepening his US knowledge by immersing himself in the Sector and has demonstrated high resilience along the way. His work ethic and dedication has been a pleasure to observe.”

Building Relationships category nominations and winner

• Jamie Cutts (Compass Associates)
• Chloe Orchard (Compass Associates)
• Jame Barker (Compass Carter Osborne) – WINNER
• Gavin Fox (Compass Associates)
• Hannah Hall (Carrot Recruitment) 

Why was Jamie chosen as this year’s Relationships category winner?

“Jamie has had another great year, with a personal best achieved through his hard work and dedication. He is ambitious and sets high standards for himself, always pushing to exceed targets and expectations, while continually wanting to learn and improve. He will put in the hard miles to ensure his clients get the best service. He is trusted by his clients and builds great relationships both externally and internally – he’s a great team player.”

Offering Solutions category nominations and winner

• Matt Sheppard (Compass Associates)
• Geri Stratieva (Compass Recruitment Solutions) – JOINT WINNER
• Chris Newall (Carrot Recruitment)
• Kerry Harris (Carrot Recruitment) – JOINT WINNER
• Tarquin Bennett-Coles (Compass Carter Osborne)

Why were Geri and Kerry chosen as this year’s Solutions category winner?

“Geri is someone who gets things done and always comes up with innovative solutions to any problems that arise! Always upbeat and positive she will push herself outside her comfort zone. Geri developed and ran the imposter syndrome sessions and has been supporting our internal recruitment she always shows genuine curiosity in understanding what makes a good candidate and the specific credentials we’re seeking. Geri always delivers to a high standard having the team at the heart of everything she does.”

“Kerry has consistently delivered solutions for clients and candidates this year, working challenging jobs with changing briefs. She can be counted on to keep clients comprehensively updated, ensuring regular dialogue, successfully pushing back and adapting to deliver solutions Kerry also gives the best care and solutions to candidates, they are supported and prepped extensively. Successful solutions can be clearly demonstrated in her diligent work for our clients in 2025.”

Other Awards

• Sales Shield – Tom Berrisford (Compass Associates)
• Outstanding Achievement – Matt Goldrick (Carrot Recruitment)
• Employee of Quarter – Rachel Smith (Compass Associates)
• Employee of the Month – Hannah Hall (Carrot Recruitment)
• Best Newcomer – Kylie Cox (Compass Associates)
• Manager of the Year – Tom Berrisford (Compass Associates)

CRS HR Director, Liza Gamblin, comments on the success of this year’s conference:

“We are delighted to announce that our end-of-year conference was a resounding success. This event brought together all our brands, uniting us in a shared vision and setting our focus for the coming year and beyond. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our team and the business as a whole, whilst building stronger relationships across the wider group—and, of course, having some fun along the way!

We also introduced an exciting new initiative: Sam’s Surgery. This monthly mentoring programme, led by our CEO, offers invaluable one-on-one mentoring sessions. By investing in our team, we aim to drive innovation, empower success, and help our people fulfil their ambitions here at CRS.”

A well deserved congratulations to all nominees and winners for all their hard work over the past year!

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