The SARAs are the only ongoing awards that recognise the recruitment industry and as such, are a coveted accolade across Australasia. The competition was tough and due to the extreme number of votes, the IT category was the only one to have four finalists. This year attendance numbers were noticeably down with a diminished group gathered at Auckland’s Hilton Hotel. Despite this relatively slim attendance, the crowd was enthusiastic and supportive, particularly so in light of the challenging year 2009 has presented. Many of the award recipients (business leaders and owners) made comment about the difficult market and trying conditions over the previous year.

Josh Comrie, Potentia’s MD, adopted a different approach with a more considered focus on the positives; the recruitment industry in 2009 has taken a much needed opportunity to markedly improve their service offering. Most organisations took a step back from the day-to-day in order to examine processes, people and ultimately delivery. The result is a great number less people in the industry now compared to twelve months ago and in Comrie’s words, “the strong have been left standing”. On this note, Potentia would like to acknowledge all finalists in the competition for seeing out what has been the most difficult year the industry has seen in this millennium.