INDEPENDENT specialist IT recruitment firm Cathcart Associates was set up in 2009 by Gordon Kaye and Sam Wason after they left their jobs at a national recruitment firm. Starting off small, the company has grown over the past nine years, with the company’s turnover last year totalling £6.5 million. Its renewables division, Cathcart Energy, has expanded to four countries in Europe, with its IT division set to follow in the next few years.
Name: Gordon Kaye
Age: 41
Position: Co-founder
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
Cathcart Associates
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Edinburgh
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
ME and my business partner [Wason] were working together at a multinational recruitment business. We were pretty much running the Scottish division ourselves. We thought we could help skilled software developers so decided to set up our own business. Luckily we didn’t need to seek outside investment and our funds came from life savings from the two of us. We wanted slow, consistent growth rather than the big-bang effect.
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A lot of what we do is done on the phone. We had a three-month restriction period with our old employers which let us find new companies. It was easy to find out which companies needed new talent. We did trade shows and when the three-month period was up we called old clients who we had personal relationships with and got them on board.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
WE have a lot of unique selling points. We don’t have one USP but the combination of selling points we do have are unique. The primary focus of a lot of similar companies is either candidate-focused or client-focused. Ours is neither. Our main focus is looking after consultants and they can in turn look after clients and candidates. We are also a large bulk buyer of advertising – we advertise on nine out of the 10 main UK job boards (excluding Times Higher Education which is for teachers). Most recruitment companies just choose a few advertisers. We also have a delivery-focused approach. A lot of our competitors will spend time and effort entertaining clients but we focus more on jobs.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
WE don’t have a focused target market, it appeals to a wide range of sectors. We work with every sector and do a lot of work with the finance, banking, retail and manufacturing sectors. At the beginning it was just the two of us and we also hired a self-employed individual. This gave us capital and the confidence to expand the business.
We moved to a bigger office so that we could employ more staff. We have our own bespoke training programme where we hire people with no experience of recruitment. The business that the three of us made gave us the funds to develop new members of staff.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
SEEING young enthusiastic trainees come in with no experience and then very quickly developing strong relationships with clients. It is nice to see them being promoted quickly and achieve the success we promised at the outset. We have also set up a management team which lets us have an overview of the business. It’s a great culture to be in.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
WE are a very ambitious company and always have been.
In 10 years’ time we will probably have at least one, probably two, regional UK divisions to add to what we have currently. I am not sure where they will be.
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The renewables side of our business has expanded throughout Europe. We have divisions in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Scandinavia.
I imagine in 10 years our IT division will expand in a similar way.
We will also probably have a more sophisticated management and back office function.
In the past nine years I have noticed that there is an increase in demand for the kind of candidates that we supply.
There are big hotspots for technology companies in Europe.
Demand has gone up but not supply in quality candidates. More clients are coming to us with incredibly difficult demands to satisfy.
I think setting up a bespoke graduate development division will help us get more people into the recruitment sector.
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