Acorn welcomes Nichola Holdship into People Development Manager role

Acorn has appointed Nichola Holdship as its People Development Manager in response to continued demand for its services UK-wide.

The leading recruiter has created the role to help promote ongoing growth and development within its core team and help ensure the continued support of its valued business clients operating across a wide range of sectors nationwide.

Nichola has been tasked with supporting existing and prospective Acorn team members to fulfil their potential and brings with her more than two decades of recruitment industry experience to the role.

Formerly a Key Account Manager with South West Water, Nichola started her career with Brook Street Bureau and worked with Spring Group and Interaction Recruitment before joining Acorn as an Account Manager in 2012, and has recently completed a Level 5 CIPD qualification in Learning and Development.

Speaking of her appointment as People Development Manager for the UK recruiter, Nichola said: “I’m really looking forward to drawing on my own experiences of working within the recruitment industry to help put my colleagues at Acorn in an even better position professionally to allow them to help the clients and candidates we work with.

“I want to create a strong learning culture within our business, one where all of our people feel they have access to a wealth of learning opportunities not only through organised and focused programmes, but through digital learning material that can be accessed at the point of need or at a time that suits them.”

“Ultimately, I want all of our people to feel they have opportunities to excel in their roles, progress with ease, and achieve their personal and professional development goals and aspirations, and to ensure this investment and focus on training enables Acorn to achieve its organisational goals too,” she said.

Acorn provides permanent, contract and temporary recruitment support and specialist Executive Search service UK-wide. It has a network of more than 30 branches across the UK and specialist divisions, working with hundreds of UK and international businesses to make sure job seekers are matched with the best opportunities available.  

It has also recently become Investors in People accredited in recognition of its integral approach to learning and development as an employer of people UK-wide too.

Bernard Ward, Managing Director at Acorn, said: “We’re really delighted to have welcomed Nichola into this new role as People Development Manager for Acorn as we look to the next phase of our own growth and development as a UK-wide company.

“It has long been our aim to create a role solely dedicated to the development and progression of staff internally as a means to further enhancing the support we are able to offer our highly valued clients, as well as the candidates we work with. We are really fortunate that Nichola’s passion for personal development led her to fit the bill across the board.”

“This was a natural progression for her to make with 20 years’ of experience working on within the recruitment industry, and having recently completed her CIPD Level 5 qualification too,” Bernard added.

“I can’t think of anyone better placed to understand the wants and needs of the workforce internally here at Acorn, but also those of the clients and candidates we work tirelessly day in day out in trying to achieve their own aims and ambitions too.”