Awards Showcase: Reward, Resourcing and Recruitment

The Awards Showcase is a window into the projects that won, or were runners up, in the 2026 UHR awards. Each session will focus on one award category and bring together the individuals who led and delivered the projects. Presenters will give a quick overview of their projects before having a facilitated conversation about the opportunities and challenges the activity brought about. The audience will get the opportunity to engage directly with the presenters to ask any questions.

Award Category for this session - Reward, Resourcing and Recruitment

WINNERS: University of Manchester - Purple Place: a new home for Benefits and Recognition

Reward Team

Purple Place represents the University of Manchester’s biggest investment in reward, benefits and recognition, bringing meaningful and measurable improvements to the colleague experience. Developed in response to fragmented benefits provision and a lack of instant, peer‑to‑peer recognition, the platform centralises everything into a single, modern and intuitive hub designed to support over 12,000 colleagues across diverse roles and locations. Since launch, Purple Place has transformed engagement—achieving a 421% increase in activations, over £2.5 million spent through the platform, and more than 8,500 eCards sent, demonstrating a significant cultural shift towards everyday appreciation.

The project has also enabled the introduction of long‑requested initiatives such as the fully electric vehicle scheme, reflecting the University’s commitment to social responsibility and sustainability. Cross‑department collaboration has been a hallmark of the work, with teams such as Wellbeing and Alumni Relations partnering to deliver financial wellbeing campaigns, payroll giving initiatives and multi‑channel communications that have broadened reach and impact.

Purple Place not only enhances everyday colleague experience but sets a strong foundation for future innovation. It is a model of how thoughtful design, creativity and collaboration can reshape reward and recognition at a university‑wide scale.

RUNNERS-UP: Aston University - Aston Resourcing Transformation Programme

Human Resources & Organisational Development

We modernised Aston’s resourcing end-to-end – building a stronger in-house Talent Acquisition (TA) service, transforming casual worker engagement through a Stonefish Vacancy Manager solution, and launching a Managed Service Provider (MSP) with Reed for agency worker hiring. This whole-system approach delivers faster hiring, better compliance and stronger value for money.

Casual onboarding now takes 31 days on average (down from 124, a 75% reduction), with clearer Right to Work check ownership and far fewer emails into HR. Our MSP has consolidated agency activity and reduced quarter-on-quarter spend by 35% while onboarding managers’ preferred suppliers into a governed route for visibility and control. Meanwhile, our TA team is progressing to a Strategic operating model – using briefings, targeted branding and dashboards to reduce external search dependency and spend, with projected mid/senior hiring savings in FY26/27. 

The outcome is a resourcing ecosystem that is faster, clearer and smarter – supporting our academic and professional services communities to deliver Aston 2030. Our approach is low-cost, data-led and highly transferable, offering a practical blueprint for universities seeking pace, compliance and sustainable value in a challenging market.