Communications experts at an Otley-based agency have won a recruitment industry award against competition from national names such as Adidas, Accenture, Network Rail and RBS.

Words&Pictures won the Innovation in Recruitment award for a project with the Careers in Optics Working Group, comprising high-street opticians from Specsavers, Boots and Vision Express, as well as professional bodies and universities, including Bradford University.

The campaign focused on raising awareness of the benefits of a career in optics for young people.

A Words&Pictures task force, led by Leah Newby, head of education, developed workshops in seven schools with ‘ambassadors’ from the working group.

She said: “To inspire young people we needed the workshops to be interactive, empowering and relevant. We used optical illusions and produced a 3D movie which went down very well with the students.”

Professor David Thomson, chairman of the Careers in Optics Working Group said: “I’m really proud of the way the entire optical sector got behind this initiative.”

A roll-out of free workshops is being planned for schools linked to the Key Stage Three and Four curriculum.