Navigating Covid, Brexit and the push to Net Zero, as well as an organisational restructure, Energy UK engaged Murray McIntosh for a volume campaign to recruit specialists critical to steering members through turbulent times. The appointment of new CEO, Emma Pinchbeck, saw Energy UK transform from a predominantly policy-oriented approach into a campaigning organisation with a renewed vigour for Renewables. These changes had a profound impact on Energy UK's standing in the market and their relationships with members and stakeholders.

Internally, the restructure led to newly created positions and saw several long-time colleagues depart. This dramatic change impacted team dynamics and thriving commercial performance. Through close collaboration, we successfully managed the challenges to their reputation and new candidate perception.

We spoke to candidates to highlight:

• The scale, reach and impact of Energy UK's work and reputation, offering opportunity to build strong network with senior industry players and civil service officials.
• Their 100% recommendation rate on Glassdoor.
• The purpose of the restructure.
• That Energy UK holds Investors in People Standard: Silver Accreditation.

We employed the following expertise and tools to promote Energy UK:

PR: our retained PR firm developed a press release, gaining coverage from multiple media channels, achieving greater public awareness through:

• Social media marketing with info/motion graphics
• Search engine optimisation activities
• Case studies, to give candidates insight and confidence
• Bespoke microsite to convey EVP: 911 page views
• Promotional video: 234 views
• Blog on our partnership and the future of energy

Content marketing: articles and a white paper on energy sector trends and market.

Social media posts: +3,000 impressions, avg. 4% engagement rate (2% on LinkedIn is considered good). Post highlight; 8.8% engagement, 534 impressions. Murray McIntosh has c.34k LinkedIn followers; more than competitors, organically grown, relevant and engaged.

Online branded job adverts: 290 views

Our comprehensive approach involves deep engagement with Energy UK to understand their culture, organisation and needs:

• Attend the Energy UK annual conference to understand industry priorities and network with members.
• Conduct salary benchmarking post-Covid to help the Board with strategy, forecasting and hiring.
• Engage with stakeholders beyond direct hiring managers to understand expectations and important considerations for each team; for example, sourcing public affairs skills within policy specialists to support their move towards becoming a campaigning organisation.
• Explore subjective requirements by regularly working with HR to understand core values and EVP.

Candidate and EDI considerations

Our framework is developed to ensure a fair and inclusive process from attraction through to appointment, enabling candidates to perform at their best and reducing deselection points throughout. This includes:

• Writing inclusive, accessible job adverts that appeal to all and highlight Energy UK's excellent EDI commitments.
• Creating scoring matrixes to assess candidates fairly.
• Using the Civil Service D&I framework and checklist to monitor and evaluate our performance.
• Investing in tools such as HireARA to anonymise CVs, reducing unconscious bias from the selection process.

We are sponsors of the EDI conference 2025 and sponsors of the 2023 YEP Forum D&I Focus Award. We are proud to practise Energy UK's EDI responsible initiatives and thrilled to support their activity in promoting conversation and achieving tangible industry progress.

Ensuring a positive candidate experience

To ensure a positive candidate experience and to help elevate Energy UK's employer brand, we included a variety of activities into our retainer recruitment process. To ensure consistent and tracked communications we utilise our industry-leading CRM and applicant tracking system. We also responded regularly, within 48 hours of interview or enquiry, to keep candidates informed and supported in the application process. We have SLAs with candidates like we do with clients.

At interview stage, we recorded first-stage interviews with all candidates on values-based questions, which could be viewed by Energy UK ahead of the first interview round. This created a warmer introduction and usefully provided insight for each meeting, allowing for deeper questioning. For successful applicants, we continue to liaise with them throughout their resignation period, on their 1st day, end of 1st week and monthly for 6 months. This allows us to address potential concerns, avoid drop-outs, and gather feedback.

We automated a post-process feedback survey for both candidates and hiring managers (including Google Review). We sought direct feedback throughout to improve our approach to the search process. As shown in our stats, our offer to acceptance ratio outperformed other campaigns as did CVs to interview with interview to placement in line with our usual performance, showing the benefit of being retained and gaining an in-depth understanding of the requirements.

Foundedin 2015, Murray McIntosh was established to offer a research-led, specialist recruitment service. Since then, we've earned a reputation as a trusted partner, working with clients ranging from innovative start- ups to global multinationals to secure the talent needed to deliver.

Our Policy, Public Affairs, Strategic Comms & Economics team deliver highly targeted support, backed by genuine insight and sector knowledge.

We also offer strategic, complementary advice across recruitment process design, employer branding, and workforce planning. Our services cover both permanent and contract recruitment, tailored to meet the specific needs of each client.

We remain embedded in our markets by actively participating in industry events, panels, and working groups, keeping us informed, engaged, and always one step ahead.

If you are planning your next policy, public affairs or communications hire and want to see how this approach could work for you, we would be glad to talk it through.