With just over a week left to go, entries are still open for the 2025 UK Social Mobility Awards. We sat down with Nick Hedley, Partner and Co-Founder of Hedley May to discuss why social mobility is a key part of the firm, and how other UK business can benefit from supporting the cause.
An executive search firm focused on the values of excellence, courage and empathy, Hedley May have been category champions since 2018.
The firm are again category champions for the Recruitment of the Year category at this year’s SOMOs, one of 15 categories open until June 27th for organisations and individuals to enter.
Here, Nick explains his stance on the importance of social mobility for the UK economy, and the benefits of entering the SOMOs for businesses who are putting in the work.
Why is Social Mobility so important to Hedley May?
When we set up the firm in 2009, we had consciously made a decision that what we put back into the community is a key way that we measure ourselves every year.
When we were discussing with the original group, there were 9 people at that point in the firm, the cause that everybody got behind was social mobility.
The ability to help someone who has started off in a difficult place in life, and I guess the tough reality background, and give them a helping hand up into the workplace so they can take control of their life and make their life a success is something that we really wanted to be a part of.
I think at a very emotional level it connected with us all. But I think the other aspect is, we’re an executive search firm, and so what we’re about is finding great talent for our clients… there is extraordinary talent to be found across the country.
Identifying with a cause but also bringing that to our work so that we are looking far and wide to bring the best people to our clients is enormously important.
In terms of the causes that we support, we really felt we could have a direct impact here. If you think about what we do, we spend a lot of time interviewing candidates, so we can help people with their interview skills. We spend a lot of time prepping people for interviews, we see what a great interview looks like, and we see then in an organisation who are the people who progress. So much of the social mobility agenda is actually about people feeling confident going into an organisation and feeling they belong.
It’s being in an interview where there’s someone perhaps 15 years older than you, firing questions at you, who has got a smart suit on, looks kind of intimidating – how do we equip people to actually give their best selves in that scenario?
As an organisation, we really felt we could have a direct impact on people and help them feel their best selves when apply for jobs.
It’s a cause that we really connect with, and that ability to give someone a helping hand, give someone some bit of our expertise and help them on their way, is just an enormously fulfilling thing to be able to do.
Why is social mobility good for business?
The sign of a healthy country, the sign of a healthy economy, is actually high levels of social mobility and that where you are born in life should not be an impediment to where you get to. Being able to look as widely as possible across the talent landscape is hugely important.
Think about the wins for this country.
Right now we have enormous challenges to grapple with, whether it be geo politics, whether it be technology and AI, whether it be climate – all of these things need the collective brain power of the nation to address and to help us be as vibrant an economy as possible.
How do we tap into every single bit of ability within the firm, and in the process, create really dynamic organisations that are going to help really impact society at large.
I think its an enormously important agenda and the reality is we just have to do so much more.
Why should businesses enter the SOMOs?
I think there’s enormous opportunity for organisations out there. Whether you think you’re doing lots, or you’re just in the foothills of your journey on this, by entering it you’re going to learn a huge amount. You’re going to tap yourself into a wonderful network of other organisations who are doing great things, and you will simply be richer for the experience.
The gala itself is the most amazing event. It’s corporates and a range of other organisations, but it’s so non-corporate. It’s just a wonderful celebration of the great work that people are doing, but also this amazing vibe of people just letting their hair down and having a great evening to celebrate something.
It’s a movement and its wonderfully exciting to be part of something that’s really successful. It’s been an enormous privilege for us to be part of it.
Enter the 2025 UK Social Mobility Awards here, with entries open until 5pm on June 27th. Find out more about the categories and entry guidelines here.
