United Colleges Group proudly celebrates the power of putting its people first, and we recognise Nadia El Atrash, our Interim Head of HR, as the fuel behind this transformative approach. We’ve put her forward for the Investors in People Award 2025 to celebrate her transformative leadership since she joined the organisation in 2021. Over four years of service and careful planning, she has mobilised the HR strategy to truly bring staff to the forefront. Her people-first approach – ensuring diversity is celebrated, wellbeing is prioritised, and skills are nurtured – has had a profound impact across UCG’s multiple London campuses. Particularly powerful is her ‘Grow Your Own’ campaign that sees aspiring staff given an interim opportunity with a development programme to grow into new roles over a 12-month period. Nadia has also led UCG’s many inclusive celebrations at the college and has organised numerous staff wellbeing days. This year, Nadia is set to roll-out the college’s Inclusive Talent Strategy to further embed diversity into every stage of the employee lifecycle, fostering a culture where everyone can succeed.
United Colleges Group has recently been recognised with the Investors in People Standard Mark, in a testament to UCG’s unwavering commitment to employee development and organisational excellence. We would like to shine a light on the incredible work that happens here and engage fully in all the benefits of being within the IIP community.
Being shortlisted for this award is both humbling and deeply meaningful, not just for me personally, but for my team and the wider organisation at United Colleges Group. Our people are our greatest strength, and this recognition affirms the collective effort we’ve made to build a culture that genuinely values wellbeing, inclusion, and personal development. For me, this nomination reflects the passion and dedication of our HR team, who work tirelessly to create an environment where every member of staff feels supported, valued, heard, and able to thrive. It’s also an acknowledgement of our leadership and the wider teams, who have embraced our vision, which is that looking after our people is not simply a tick box exercise, but a meaningful way of demonstrating how we like to work. For our organisation, being recognised by Investors in People is a moment of real pride for us. It signals that our focus on wellbeing and leadership is not only improving staff experience but also strengthening our impact on learners and our communities. This shortlist has reminded us of why we do what we do: to make a difference through our people. It’s a celebration of how far we’ve come together, and it motivates us to continue raising the bar for what great people leadership looks like in further education.
Winning an IIP award would be an incredible milestone for United Colleges Group and would be a powerful recognition of the journey we’ve been on to place people, wellbeing, and leadership at the heart of everything we do. In further education, our mission is to give life chances to our students through learning, and that starts with our staff. To be recognised by Investors in People would affirm that the culture we’ve built; one based on trust, inclusion, compassion, and continuous improvement which is not only making a difference internally but is also setting a standard across our sector. To win this award would reinforce the message that when we invest in our people, we invest in the success of our learners and the communities we operate within. It would inspire us to continue developing, to share our learning with others in the sector, and to keep championing the belief that outstanding education begins with an outstanding people first culture. Most importantly, it would be a collective achievement and a celebration of every individual who has contributed to making our organisation a place where people feel valued, supported, and proud to belong.
Being part of the IIP community is incredibly important to United Colleges Group, and the support provided by our practitioner Julie-Ann has been invaluable in our journey so far with IIP. It connects us to a network of like-minded organisations and leaders with a shared commitment to developing people, embedding wellbeing, and driving continuous improvement. In further education, where our people are at the heart of every student’s success, this community offers opportunities to learn from others, share best practice, and continue to create inclusive workplace cultures. Engaging in awards and events like this one allows us to celebrate what we’ve achieved, but also to reflect, benchmark, and challenge ourselves to keep improving. It reinforces our belief that investing in our people is a continuous journey of listening, learning, and growing together.
Being part of the Investors in People community brings pride and confidence to our staff as they know they are part of an organisation recognised for valuing and investing in its people. The Investors in People community provides a powerful platform for collaboration, inspiration, and shared purpose, all of which help us strengthen our culture which helps to shape our impact on the learners and communities we serve.
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