Reflecting on 2023 at HRS and looking forward to 2024.

It’s been a great year for HRS and as we move into the festive season, we wanted to reflect on some of the highlights so far. 

Educate:

 We are passionate about guiding and supporting upcoming dietitians and allied health care professionals. This Autumn we welcomed two dietetic students from University College London who both completed (and passed!) their university placements at HRS in a non-clinical setting. We also supported four nutrition and marketing interns in gaining experience in a medical communications agency. From attending events to writing blogs and compiling monthly marketing reports, the interns have been able to gain lots of hands-on experience.

As part of our commitment to supporting student learning, we also delivered lectures at several universities across the country (Coventry University, King’s College London, and Newcastle University) on topics ranging from regulatory affairs to working as a communications dietitian. 

We are proud to have launched our in-house HRS journal club. The team meet monthly to discuss and stay up to date on anything related to nutrition communications, whether that’s reviewing a new guideline, reading a clinical paper, or sharing insights and learnings from a recent event. This gives us all an opportunity to ring-fence time for all-important continued professional development. 

Support: 

We produced an array of informative learning activities on behalf of our clients. From podcasts to conferences and advisory boards, it’s been all hands-on deck. Let’s pull out a few examples…This year saw HRS work alongside biopharmaceutical company Fresenius Kabi to develop and launch their new e-Learning platform, MOTIV. This platform is designed to support health care professionals with continuing professional development (CPD). You can read more about the initiative here.

We were delighted to partner with an NHS trust to refine and update their intranet, which is used as an internal communication channel for staff. It’s great to see the impact of our work -website visits per month rocketed from 19,000 to 100,000, and there was an impressive increase in engagement hits reaching 105,335 per month, far exceeding the 72,484 target! 

Learn: 

Did you spot HRS at any industry events this year?! Our team have been out on the road networking, learning, and sharing. From the Medical Communications conference in Heathrow to the Nourish your Network event at Sainsbury’s HQ, it’s been a busy year. To name a few highlights…the Food Matter’s Live Sustainable Food Forum in September shone a light on the vital work that needs to be done across all industries if the UK are to meet the 2030 Climate Target. We also attended and presented at Food Matters Live Inspiring Nutrition event where CEO Harriet Smith and Account Executive Cat Caro conducted a masterclass on upcoming nutrition communication trends for 2024. 

We’ve deepened our understanding of the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and collaborated with The Nutrition Society to present considerations in nutrition and health claims and how they can impact business. We also plugged in to The Food and Drink Federation’s webinar on the latest in advertisement and promotion of HFSS foods in the U.K. as we recognise the upmost importance of staying up-to-date with rules and regulations. 

Nurture: 

In true HRS style we have undoubtably stuck to our core values; collaborative, credible, curious, flexible, and personable. To keep in line with these values we continue to run regular staff surveys and implement feedback, have regular team check-ins, and roll out incentives and away days to maintain motivation. A sunny July day out in Brighton is always guaranteed to leave us feeling refreshed and driven!

Grow: The HRS team has grown considerably over the year and we are proud to have consolidated a hard-working, credible group of people. Our diverse team brings a wealth of talent and expertise, ensuring a strong workforce made up of qualified, enthusiastic individuals. 

We were absolutely delighted to have won (for the second year running!) the 2023 Corporate LiveWire award for ‘Best specialist marketing agency of the year’! Winning this award is a real testament to the hard work and dedication that goes on behind the scenes at HRS.  

Innovate: 

We’ve had a busy final quarter working on our strategic planning for 2024. As we move into the next stage of our growth, we’re looking at ways to embrace new forms of technology to meet our clients’ requirements. We’re excited to be partnering with superb tech industry experts covering all bases, including AI, augmented reality, video, and animation to name a few! 

Thank you for coming along on the journey with us. We’d like to wish our clients, colleagues, and readers and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

This article has been written in collaboration with one of the HRS Communications Interns, Bells Hann.