EDUCATION SECTOR SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT FIRM CELEBRATES AWARD WIN IN HIGHLY COMPETITIVE FIELD

(L-R) Kevin Gill, CEO & Shaun Porter, MD & Dan Welsh, Recruitment Services Manager at The Education Network

The Newcastle office of education recruitment specialists, The Education Network, has been crowned ‘Best Recruitment Business’ in the region at the Englands Business Awards 2025.

The accolade was a huge surprise to the team who were nominated anonymously in a sector which can be highly competitive, especially for securing good placements and attracting top talent.

Any member of the public can vote for a business but that is only one factor. There are some businesses where voting or asking customers to vote is simply not appropriate in which cases greater importance is placed on the mystery shopper visits.

Englands Business Awards programme operates through a series of regional heats across the North, Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West with each region split further into sub-regions. 

 (L-R) Shaun Porter, MD & Dan Welsh, Recruitment Services Manager at The Education Network collecting award

In the case of the North, this area stretches from Northumberland to Cheshire and over to Cumbria.  The awards are also open to 16 regions in Scotland. The national finals will be held in Birmingham in November.

New Business, Community, Independent Retailer, Licensed Trade, Consumer and Innovation are just some of the categories available to enter. 

Nominations for the awards, which are organised around strict conditions, are open all year round to encourage people to put forward businesses for consideration. Online nominations include the option to say why the nomination is being made.

The Newcastle office of The Education Network, which opened in 2011, comprises a team of 12 people, who together offer decades of experience in the education recruitment field.

Providing essential support to primary, secondary and SEND schools throughout the UK when there is an urgent or unexpected vacancy to fill, the team takes pride in its many longstanding relationships with teaching, support and leadership staff, which have been built on honesty, integrity and transparency.

Commenting on being crowned ‘Best Recruitment Business’ in the region, managing director, Shaun Porter, said:

“Thank you to everyone who voted for us and our incredible team who work tirelessly to make a positive impact in schools and communities across the North East. 

“At The Education Network we are passionate about going above and beyond to find the best candidates for each role.  We place the wellbeing and education of pupils at the centre of our decision making because we understand the vital role played by education in shaping the lives and futures of children and we want to make a difference.  We expect these factors weighed in the judges’ ultimate decision. 

“We still don’t know who nominated us either, so we are very grateful to whoever you are!  Now we are thinking: can we possibly go further and be crowned Best Recruitment Business in the country at the Grand Final in Birmingham in November’?  Watch this space!”

The Education Network is based in central Newcastle and operates four further offices in Durham, Middlesbrough, Leeds and Birmingham.