The s1jobs Recruitment Awards, which have been running for the past six years, reward businesses and organisations who deliver a great candidate experience as well as an innovative approach to recruitment. The awards were presented by comedian Kevin Bridges at an event in Glasgow on April 13.

Loreburn Housing Association, which manages around 2,500 homes across Dumfries and Galloway, beat off stiff competition from fellow finalists Sense Scotland and Venture Scotland to take home the prize in the Best Charity Employer category.

According to the judges, Loreburn’s victory was down to their recent transformation and highly successful restructure of the organisation.

The judges said: “In February 2016 a new vision was launched which included a complete restructure across the whole organisation within an eight month period. Loreburn’s performance during the restructure remained high and customer satisfaction increased from 83% to 91%.”

Prior to chief executive Lorraine Usher’s appointment, Loreburn Housing Association had been in a very challenging two-year period of intervention by the Scottish Housing Regulator. Within 18 months of the CEO’s appointment, the organisation had gained triple Investors in People Gold status. Loreburn’s Hallam House development also won the Excellence in Development for Rented Properties Award at the CIH Excellence Awards 2016, and its Galloway Gateway project is a finalist in the UK Housing Awards 2017, to be announced later this month.

Lorraine said: “We are very lucky to have a fantastic, hardworking and dedicated team and hopefully this award for being an employer of choice will help us attract even more talented staff to join us. The award is the icing on the cake of what is a really positive time here at Loreburn Housing Association, as we continue our transformation.

“Loreburn is undoubtedly a very exciting place to work at the moment, with a fast paced, innovative, supportive culture. One of our ambitions is to become the best performing housing association in Scotland and by being named Charity Employer of the Year I would like to think that we are well on our way to achieving that.”