More than 50 human resource professionals from around the the eastern counties and beyond attended a free HR Forum hosted by law firm Prettys in partnership with HR recruitment specialist Waddington Brown and Anglia Ruskin University.

Practioners from around Suffolk, Essex and London were invited to the event, held at Anglia Ruskin’s Chelmsford campus, discuss the topic of staff engagement and development.

Theresa Simpkin, senior lecturer at the university’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School was the keynote speaker, who discussed the concept of employee value, and Matthew Cole, a partner at Prettys, examined legal aspects of benefits packages.

Kelly Sayers, partner and head of employment services at Prettys, which has offices in Ipswich and Chelmsford, said: “Our HR Forums are designed to bring together senior HR managers and directors from across Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and London in order to discuss the very latest issues facing the Human Resources profession.

“It also lends itself as a great networking opportunity, in order to meet peers and contacts that operate in the same field and share knowledge, best practice and guidance.”

Emma Gunton, co-founder and director of Waddington Brown, which is based at Claydon, near Ipswich, added: “We were proud to support Prettys with hosting its first HR Forum of the year.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for HR specialists to meet like-minded contacts from the region, in order to discuss the current human resources and people management topics of the day, for free.”