Welcome to the February 2025 edition of DIGIT’s Movers and Shakers!

Each month, our Movers and Shakers feature gives you the low-down on recent news in the Scottish tech ecosystem.

While understandably not the busiest month of the year, January still saw many innovative Scots organisations and key players doing exciting things. Read on to find out what exactly’s been happening!

Appointments

The Data Lab Announces New CEO

The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI, has named its new CEO.

Following a nationwide recruitment campaign, it’s been confirmed that Heather Thomson has been appointed as the latest leader of The Data Lab after taking on the interim CEO role last year.

She was most recently appointed to the role of interim CEO to lead The Data Lab’s transition to the new 10-year National Innovation Centre Programme following Brian Hills’ departure in April 2024.

In her new role, Thomson will be responsible for leading the innovation centre’s 30+ strong team, as well as facilitating connections and collaborations across all sectors to drive innovation and address the demand for skills—supporting academic, public sector, and business communities in Scotland.

To read more, click here.

KPMG Appoints New Lead of Aberdeen Office

KPMG UK has appointed Natalie Macfayden to lead the firm’s Aberdeen office.

Macfayden, an R&D tax specialist, will oversee a team of 100 people at KPMB’s 1 Marischal Square premises in Aberdeen.

She has worked for KPMG UK for 10 years, moving her way up through various roles in the firm’s tax practice in Scotland before being promoted to tax director in 2022.

In her new role, Macfayden will focus on strengthening KPMG‘s position in the Aberdeen market, including its relationship with key local sectors, such as energy. She will work closely with the senior leadership team that includes tax partner Deborah May, audit partner Kelly Dunn, audit directors Michelle Smarsh and Daniel Crighton and tax director Anna Morrison.

To read more, click here.

Orbex Launches New CTO

UK-based orbital launch services company, Orbex, has announced the appointment of its new Chief Technology Officer, Andy Bradford.

Bradford brings over two decades of experience in the space industry, with specialism in small satellite and launch operations having previously led UK Launch Services Ltd (UKLSL) as CEO and spent over 10 years in various senior technical and project roles, including Director of Engineering, with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL).

UKLSL has worked with Orbex since 2017, providing Andy with vast knowledge of the company’s technology and approach.

To read more, click here.

Acumen Cyber Announces Leadership Restructure

Glasgow-headquartered cybersecurity specialists Acumen Cyber have announced a restructure of its leadership team to support the next phase of its long-term growth and innovation strategy.

The leadership changes reflect Acumen’s continued commitment to delivering exceptional cybersecurity services to its clients, while fostering innovation and engineering excellence within its CREST-accredited Security Operations Centre (SOC).

Mark Robertson will take on the position of CEO, where he will seek to lead Acumen Cyber into its next chapter of growth. Since Acumen’s inception, Mark has, according to the company, played a pivotal role in driving the company’s growth and shaping its vision for the future.

To read more, click here.

Compliance Onboarding Platform Amiqus Adds Key AML Expert

Back in December, compliance and identity verification provider Amiqus strengthened its commitment to supporting regulated firms by appointing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) expert, Graham MacKenzie as Director of AML & Financial Crime Risk.

With over a decade in AML and financial crime regulatory environments, Graham brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, having previously served as Chair of the UK AML Supervisors Forum, member of LSAG and Head of AML at the Law Society of Scotland.

Graham will drive Amiqus’ efforts to enhance ongoing investment into AML platform capabilities as the company rolls out across high-volume financial services and wealth management clients.

CirrusHQ Appoints AWS Executive as Head of Sales

Also back in December, CirrusHQ, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud specialist, appointed Craig Ridsdill in a newly created Head of Sales role.

Reporting to CirrusHQ’s Chief Revenue Officer, Stephen Croke, Craig joins the organisation from AWS, where he has spent the last six years leading the cloud services platform’s higher education and NHS healthcare teams.

At CirrusHQ, he will work closely with Croke to further extend the organisation’s relationship with those across healthcare and education seeking to reap the benefits of the cloud.

HR and Workplace Culture Expert Lisa Thomson Joins ClearSky Logic as Chief People Officer

HR and workplace culture stalwart Lisa Thomson has joined ClearSky Logic as Chief People Officer. ‘Special ops’ software delivery specialist ClearSky Logic doubled headcount in 2024, and plans to continue scaling up its team in 2025 to match a fast-growing client base. The firm, which has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, is on track for revenue in excess of £5 million in 2024.

Thomson founded Purpose HR in 2014, advising companies across the technology and biotech sectors on a range of HR-related matters, before the business was acquired by accountancy and business advisory group AAB in 2021. She is a Board Member at Entrepreneurial Scotland, an Non-executive Director with Firstport, an Ambassador at Women’s Enterprise Scotland, and a Mentor at CodeBase.

Hybrid Anchor Targets Further Acquisitions With MD Appointment

Curtis Walker has been appointed as managing director of software developer Hybrid Anchor as the north Lanarkshire company eyes further expansion.

Walker joins from Abstract Canvas, an award-winning 3D visualisation studio which he set up in Glasgow in 2020.

The strategic move sees Hybrid founder and former MD John Loudon step into a business development role, with a renewed focus on acquisitions following the successful addition of Edinburgh-based web support firm Off Canvas to his agency group five months ago.

Walker brings over two decades of creative and operational expertise to the role and will head up the senior creative and technical teams at both companies and Loudon is confident and Loudon is confident the changes at senior management level will pave the way for further partnership investment.

Digital Product Development Consultancy Waracle Appoints New Chief Growth Officer

Digital product development consultancy Waracle has signalled its ambition to scale quickly with the appointment of a new Chief Growth Officer from rival Kin + Carta.

Adam Grant-Jones will join Waracle, to increase the company’s presence in London and spearhead its organic growth. He was formerly MD of Kin + Carta’s UK business.

He is joined at the Dundee-headquartered company by Flora Feldman – the former head of growth for Northern Europe at Kin + Carta – who joins as Growth Director focusing on serving existing London-based clients and increasing its impact within the capital.

The appointments follow a busy 2024 for Waracle with the installation of a new CEO in David Tuck and the acquisition of digital design and technology agency Screenmedia, based in Glasgow.

Grant-Jones and Tuck are joined by Sharon Dickie, Sara Kinnear and founder Mike Wharton on the new senior leadership team focused on delivering digital products.

New Head Appointed at Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics

A new Head and Scientific Director has been appointed at Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics (Fraunhofer CAP), hosted at the University of Strathclyde.

Professor Loyd McKnight takes up the role after working at Fraunhofer CAP for 13 years, most recently as head of the Centre’s Quantum Technologies Business Unit. He succeeds Professor Martin Dawson, who had been the Centre’s Head and Scientific Director since it was founded in 2012 and who stepped down from the post at the end of 2024.

Professor McKnight has a broad range of technical expertise in fields including frequency-stabilised lasers, photon sources, integrated optics and quantum systems for sensing and information processing. He leads a number of large national and international research programmes in quantum technologies.

He will transfer into the Institute of Photonics at Strathclyde from this month as Professor of Practice, discharging his Fraunhofer role under a formal secondment, as is normal for Fraunhofer Institute leaders.

Partnerships

Global Technology Consultancy Synechron Steps up Partnership With Scottish Financial Enterprise

Synechron joined Scottish Financial Enterprise in 2023, aiming to form new partnerships with academia and offer deep domain expertise to Scotland’s financial services sector in data, AI, cloud and devops, engineering, digital, and consulting.

The company recently established its first Scottish workspace at Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh and has plans targeting expansion into Scotland’s financial and professional services industries.

It is upgrading to partner-level membership in SFE, representing its strong confidence in the sector. SFE has three levels of membership – member, associate, and partner – which include different levels of engagement and member benefits.

The move will allow Synechron to more closely collaborate with the sector, participating in key forums to drive industry change and contribute positively to Scottish ecosystem.

Scotland-based Pufferfish and GPA Announce Strategic Partnership

Edinburgh-based immersive display technology firm Pufferfish announced a strategic partnership with AV system integrator GPA. This collaboration marks a significant step in extending Pufferfish’s reach and enhancing its ability to deliver visual experiences to clients worldwide.

The partnership will ‘enable more customers across the corporate, cultural, retail, and educational sectors to elevate their audience experiences with visual displays that engage, inspire, and deliver impact – anywhere in the world.’

By uniting Pufferfish’s  spherical and hemispherical display technology with GPA’s extensive network and expertise, the partnership will seek to deliver comprehensive end-to-end services from demo services, solution design, seamless installation and beyond.

Aberdeen FC Teams Up with Eureka Solutions

Aberdeen Football Club has partnered with Eureka Solutions in a strategic move to transform its business operations.

The collaboration will lay the groundwork for the Club’s future success through the implementation of Oracle NetSuite, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

The Premiership club is modernising its financial management software, introducing tools to streamline processes, reduce costs, and enhance decision-making. By automating routine tasks and providing real-time data insights, the partnership will ensure Aberdeen FC’s operational efficiency matches its ambition on the field.

The project focuses on automating key administrative functions, such as purchase order approvals and accounts payable automation, while improving cost control and budget monitoring.

University of Strathclyde and Glasgow Science Centre Cement Long-standing Partnership

The University of Strathclyde and Glasgow Science Centre have formalised their partnership in support of the emerging and internationally leading science and technology sectors.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations outlines how they will collaborate in areas such as fostering public understanding on scientific and technological innovations that will shape our future, which includes work on Sustainability and AI, and Space and Manufacturing.

Developing and delivering educational programmes to build the skills necessary for the future workforce, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is also a key focus, along with collaborative research that focuses on cutting-edge science and technology.

The agreement formalises existing collaborations, which span across University Departments and Faculties, and include the Newton Flight Academy, a partnership between the Science Centre and the University, FIRST Scandinavia, Boeing, and MathWorks, which includes state-of the-art flight simulators and a permanent classroom located in the Science Centre, used to teach students aviation-related STEM concepts.

Awards

ScotlandIS Announces Shortlist for 2025 Digital Technology Awards

ScotlandIS, the trade body and cluster management organisation for Scotland’s digital technology industry, have today announced the shortlist for their 15^th annual Digital Technology Awards, set to take place on March 20th at the Radisson Blu in Glasgow.

The awards showcase the enormous talent within the tech sector, celebrating individuals and organisations across the length and breadth of the country.

This year sees the introduction of a new category, ‘Outstanding IT Managed Service Provider,’ reflecting the increased reliance on outsourced IT services and the continued growth of this sector in Scotland.

To read more, click here.

New Scottish EDGE Awards to Help Drive Economic Change

Scottish EDGE, the business funding competition, has joined forces with Techscaler and Scottish Enterprise to help drive economic change in Scotland with the introduction of two new awards.

Businesses looking to make a positive impact on Scotland’s economy could be in the running for up to £150,000 in support thanks to the new Mission EDGE Award, funded by Scottish Enterprise.

The new award debuts as part of the 25th round of Scottish EDGE Awards, which are now open, and offers a total prize pot of £1.5 million to applicants.

Applications for round 25 of Scottish EDGE Awards will be accepted until the 27th February. The live final is scheduled for 9th May.

To read more, click here.

12-Year-Old Glasgow Student Designs Solar Blanket to Help Homeless

A 12-year-old schoolgirl from Glasgow has designed a solar-powered heated blanket that could one day help address the impact of homelessness in the UK.

Rebecca Young, an S2 pupil at Kelvinside Academy, in the city’s West End, created the innovative design as part of the UK Primary Engineer competition, where she triumphed over 70,000 other entrants to take the top prize of the MacRobert Commendation Medal, awarded via a public vote.

Rebecca’s creation – a heated blanket integrated into a backpack and powered by solar panels – was inspired by seeing people sleeping rough on the streets of Glasgow. Rebecca was tasked with designing something to address a social issue and felt homelessness was a pressing problem she could help solve.

To read more, click here.

Signal Named Most Creative Video Production Company in Global Excellence Awards

Aberdeen-based Signal, a digital media company specialising in high-quality video, animation, and digital content, has been awarded a Global Excellence Award for Most Creative Video Production Company of 2025 by Acquisition International.

This global recognition highlights the company’s ‘exceptional creativity, technical expertise, and ability to deliver impactful, visually stunning content that resonates with audiences worldwide’.

Signal’s Managing Director, Jamie Baikie said, “Our winning formula lies in our ability to seamlessly combine creativity with strategy, producing compelling video content that captures and communicates the core message of any brand. Our portfolio spans major industries including energy, tourism, hospitality, sports, and health & safety”.