A Cornish clothes brand has been honoured for its commitment to employee wellbeing and recognition. 

A focus on its reward package recently saw Seasalt take the award for ‘Best Reward and Recognition Initiative,’ along with shortlisting in a further two categories, in this year’s international People Management Awards run by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Now employing more than 1,300 people the business has been externally recognised for putting employees at its heart, including at its 76 stores and head office locations.

The brand has also been shortlisted in the ‘Best Place to Work’ award category of fashion trade bible Drapers and shortlisted in the ‘Most Impactful EDI Programme or Initiative’ category for the 'Empowering Women' section of its Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion strategy as part of the forthcoming Inclusion in Awards.

Seasalt described this recognition as a ‘testament’ to its progressive approach to demonstrating how much ‘people behind the business are valued.’

The CIPD Awards judges drew particular attention to Seasalt’s refreshed and bolstered benefits package, which includes being a Real Living Wage employer, enhancing holiday, sick and parental leave entitlement, increasing pension contributions and introducing a staff welfare fund for emergency support.

The investment in the changes was in part a response to extensive employee survey feedback and a sympathetic reaction to the impact of the pandemic, followed by the subsequent cost of living crisis.

Chief People Officer at Seasalt, John Govier, said: “Seasalt has experienced continued domestic and international growth in the last five years, and, in response, we have upgraded our benefits and rewards packages as well as learning and development schemes to reflect our position in the industry and our people’s contribution to our success.

“This growth has also led to extended career development for our employees, as well as future opportunities in Cornwall and beyond.”

With women making up the majority of Seasalt’s workforce, the brand has targeted some of the issues women face in retail, particularly life balance and career opportunities.

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The business has supported women into leadership roles and saw a dramatic year-on-year improvement in its Gender Pay Gap, bringing it below the UK average of 7.7 per cent and driving an improvement in the Median Hourly Pay Gap from 17.3 per cent in 2022 to 5.6 per cent in 2023.

Two-thirds of management-level positions are now held by women, with an equal gender split in senior manager roles.

Mindful of ensuring everyone can benefit, Seasalt runs initiatives designed for all, including gender blind, enhanced family leave offerings, inclusive leadership development programmes and flexible working.

Given Seasalt's home in Cornwall, the brand recognises its responsibility to improve lives within its communities.

With Cornwall scoring as 'least favourable' for promising prospects in the 2024 State of the Nation Report, much of this work is channelled through Seasalt's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy. 

As part of this strategy, Seasalt's team of outreach ambassadors have undertaken more than 130 hours of outreach in 2024. This included raising awareness of careers in schools and education providers, and developing employability skills in Cornwall, including Kehelland College and Cornwall Hospital Education Service (CHES), where Seasalt designers worked on a brief with local children to design a pair of socks.

Committed to supporting Cornwall's talent, Seasalt also recently welcomed its second cohort of apprentices, having retained 82 per cent of its first cohort in permanent roles.

Director of HR Operations Keith Surgenor said: “We listen to our employees and update them periodically on how we have used their feedback to improve their working experience with us.

“Their feedback supported a reward and recognition change programme that helped the business stand out in the local and national retail job market, informed our approach to inclusion and has shaped how we support internal career development.

“The results of our engagement surveys speak for themselves. Our engagement levels have increased over the last three years and are currently six per cent higher than the UK average for the retail sector.

“We are delighted to be recognised by industry-leading organisations for our employer brand offering.”