Eden Scott, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, is set to see record turnover for its 20th year in businesses.

Lessons learned during the 2008 recession put the recruiter in a confident position during the economic downturn due to the pandemic with early moves into new industries including fintech, semiconductors, and space.

Michelle Lownie, Eden Scott’s chief executive, said: “The Scottish jobs market remains extremely buoyant, and our growth over the past year or so shows the value companies place on effective talent acquisition.

“Sectors including energy, renewables, semiconductors, the space industry, and technology – particularly startups – are seeing significant investment and with that comes growth, and there is huge demand for talent to facilitate it.

The firm was set up in 2003 by founding directors Lownie, Guy Martin, and Chris Logue, and has since expanded into one of Scotland’s largest independent recruitment agencies, connecting tens of thousands of candidates with hundreds of clients including Skyscanner, The Bank of New York, and Glenmorangie across three separate decades.

Pre-tax profits are on track to reach £1m – a rise of 10% YOY – at the recruitment business, driven by a strong Scottish jobs market and growth in key industries including tech, renewables, healthcare, hospitality, life sciences, and even the nation’s burgeoning space industry.

Turnover is set to rise from £10.3m to £13.4m this financial year – an increase of more than 30% –  despite challenging economic conditions caused by factors including the rising costs of doing business, the conflict in Ukraine, and the lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eden Scott has worked with names in more than 15 sectors during its 20 years in business, including financial services giant BlackRock; the NHS; whisky giant Glenmorangie; and Scottish tech enterprises such as Pufferfish and Skyscanner – both beneficiaries of Eden Scott’s Talent Spark start-up programme.

Speaking as Eden Scott prepares to mark its 20th anniversary in May this year, Lownie said overcoming difficult periods such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2008 economic crash has helped the firm navigate recent global challenges, leaving the company well positioned for further growth.

She said: “The pandemic accelerated the evolution of the company. It taught us that volume is not always the key to success, and we are more focused and determined, and keep a sharp eye on day-to-day operations with eyes on the future.”

Reflecting on 2008’s recession, whilst Eden Scott was able to recover, Lownie now considers the company was slow to react to the dramatic economic downturn.

“This time we have been far more agile, proactive, and forward thinking and identified sectors and industries likely to thrive and invested resources there,” she said. “We are well aligned with industries that have to grow, for example through government-mandated sustainability targets.

“Spotting which industries are likely to be affected by an economic downturn early and making contact with consultants to cement those relationships has also been important to prev

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Looking to the future, Lownie said continued investment in tech and energy sectors, as well as Scotland’s thriving start-up community keep the outlook strong for the business and the market, adding Eden Scott will continue to support Scottish entrepreneurs through its Talent Spark programme.

She added: “We have supported the entrepreneurial economy to grow in this country and been there to support the accelerators at every stage of the journey and now support scaling companies to grow.

“Scotland has always been stable and entrepreneurial, with an abundance of owner managed businesses, and our success in supporting them through Talent Spark has been about beginning and maintaining those relationships as those businesses grow.

“Our aim will always be to connect great people with great organisations. We don’t want to be transactional recruiters. It’s why we stay away from high volume, low margin businesses. It’s more about putting key people into businesses. We may not compete on volume, but we excel on value.”