Edinburgh IT jobs firm Cathcart has rest of UK in sights

Cathcart Associates, the Edinburgh-headquartered IT recruitment specialist, has flagged plans for further expansion across the UK and Europe ten years after its launch.

Co-founders Sam Wason and Gordon Kaye. Picture: Peter Sandground

The firm, which already has satellite operations in Manchester and Bangkok, said it was also moving to bigger, “state-of-the-art” premises in its home city. The new offices will facilitate growth of the 40-strong Edinburgh team.

Co-founders Gordon Kaye and Sam Wason have built the business from a team of two based in a modest attic room to a total headcount of 60 and annual revenues of some £7 million, working with some of the country’s top tech companies.

Its Cathcart Energy offshoot has established a strong reputation across Europe, and Germany in particular, sourcing candidates for major corporations including every large wind turbine manufacturer in Europe.

Staff celebrate the tenth anniversary of the firm. Picture: Contributed

Kaye said: “Cathcart Associates have remained one step ahead of the massive growth in digital technology and that has led to us sourcing candidates for some of the best companies and most challenging roles in the country.

“We have always been ambitious in our growth expectations and capitalised on opportunities as they arose. It is exciting to be placing Scotland’s finest talent with tech giants like Amazon and Skyscanner as well as with future stars of the industry.”

Aspirations

He added: “Our aspirations for the business include expanding further into the rest of the UK and supporting more renewable energy businesses across Europe. I think it’s fair to say the next ten years look to be just as ambitious, and just as international, as the last ten.”

Wason said: “There have been so many highlights during the past decade, but opening our office in Thailand in 2015 is definitely high on that list.

“Making a success of the Thailand venture has been a huge education and great fun.”

Last month, Cathcart announced that it had won a major public sector tender to secure candidates for the likes of the NHS, local government and charities.

The firm secured the contract with a new public sector framework primarily designed for the NHS but open to public sector organisations and government departments.

The contract win sees Cathcart named as a supplier on the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and NHS Procurement in Partnership Non-Clinical Temporary & Fixed term staffing framework.

The appointment follows the firm’s recent inclusion on the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 4 framework, which will allow it to supply recruitment services to key digital specialists in any public sector body or third sector organisation.