Skill Up As You Scale Up eBook

SKILL UPAS YOU

SCALE UP16.11.2016

Free eBook

@talentspark in/talentspark-community talentspark.scot

Contents

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Introduction

Panel Introduction

Building a strong founding team

Why the founding team is key to your

business

Panellists on your founding team

Attracting new talent & building an employer

brand

Creating an employer brand to showcase

you company culture

How to write a concise and compelling job

description

Top tips to making the right hires

Panellists on employer brand & culture

Ensuring you are legally compliant with your

job offers - Morton Fraser LLP

Maintaining your company culture as you

grow

Panellists on maintaining your company

culture as you grow

Managing your team across multiple

locations

The implications of Brexit on the Scottish

tech ecosystem

Products and ideas grow, evolve andsometimes pivot in a totally different

direction. Funding can always be foundfor truly game changing ideas and there

will always be a host of competitorsround the corner to shake up your

market. However, more than anythingelse, early stage businesses live and die

by the people that bring them to life.

Scotland has a thriving start-up scene with companies across a range ofsectors developing exciting concepts to make our lives that little bit better.

There is a lot of support and advice on how to get started but scaling thebusiness is a whole different ball game.

Most experts agree; an innovative company can have all the potential in theworld, but without the right people in place it is almost certainly destined to

fail.

Recruiting can be easy, but building a team of great talent isn’t. That’s why we’vecombined our professional knowledge with insight from some of the country's

leading entrepreneurial knowhow to provide you with the tools to build awinning team.

Skill up as you scale-up… for success.

It can be easy to fall into the traps –employing friends without the right

skillsets; creating a team of ‘mini-me’s’ who don’t provide diversity of

thought to challenge the team; hiringfor skillsets but not taking account of

the cultural fit; recruiting for thenow and not for the future and mostimportantly not taking action when

things do go wrong.

Are You Ready ToScale-up?

We’ve looked at, amongst other things

• Building a strong founding team and why it’s important• Creating an employer brand to attract the best talent• Maintaining your company culture as you grow• Managing teams across multiple locations

Add a little bit of body text

OurPanellists

Date: 16/11/2016

Time: 5.30 - 8pm

Venue: Morton Fraser LLP, 2Quartermile, Edinburgh

John Peebles Maria Rooney David Hunter

Phil Worms Colin HewittStuart McWilliams

Building a Strong Founding Team

Aim for the Top of the Charts

Diversity of skills is essential to success.

It’s a bit like starting a rock band.

You can’t have everyone playing the sameinstrument and you need to be able to

balance the egos!

Entrepreneurial success is rarely the result of just a brilliant idea. It comes from thefounding team’s never-say-die attitude and relentless execution.

They are the people who build the business and shape its character. They establish theDNA – the values, culture and ethos of the business – that will run through everything

that follows.

So what makes a greatfounding team?

You need a great front man, (CEO) someone who can create the buzz andblast out the vocals to sell the story andcreate the vision.

This role should be performed by a corefounder, usually the individual with thestrongest vision and the highestaspirations for the company.

You then need to find your drummer.(Commercial Director) It’s crucial to have abaseline of sales or at least an idea of who yourcustomer might be so you need someone to carrythe beat and ensure you’re selling from the start.

They will also ensure the tempo of your salesfunnel ramps up to match the various stages ofthe business.

Having someone attuned to user (or potentialuser) feedback allows for continual improvementbased on market needs and means that you aredeveloping a product or service that someoneactually wants to buy.

So many companies fail because the product orservice is developed in isolation withoutconsideration to the customer.

Then, the quiet one. Your bassist. (CFO)

Financial Management is so crucial in the earlystages when funding is tight or as your businessscales and you’re pitching for more.

Cash flow is king so you need someone to keep asteady rhythm of financial management to ensurethat you don’t burn through the cash before thenext funding round is secured.

It’s essential to be able to assess the viability andprofitability of the organisation to createmeaningful engagement with investors.

Finally on the mixing desk you need atechnical (CTO) whizz… constantly fine tuningand refining the proposition based on feedbackand input from the other team members.

Everyone needs to be focused, aligned and clearabout who’s filling which role to meet targets andstay ahead of the competition. You definitelycan’t carry passengers and you may wear severalhats in the early stages.

It doesn’t matter how many people make up thefounding team, what matters is that you have allthe key roles covered – technical, sales andfinance – and that you are able to challenge andcomplement each other to work towards acommon goal.

Your Founding TeamThe Key To SecuringInvestment

Guy Martin

"Having invested in anumber of small businesses

and run my own company for13 years I know how important

having the right founding team is toa successful scale up. "

Scaling a business depends a great deal on funding.There are obviously a number of sources for this but thefirst thing any potential funding partner will look at is the

founding team and how well they operate.

Obviously there are other elements to a successful company but in themind of an investor they very much start and finish at the feet of the

founding team and if there is no faith in that team then there is unlikelyto be any funding.

So what are they looking for?

For there to be any chance of a business successfullyscaling up there needs to be a clear vision thateveryone buys into.

The founding team have to provide that vision and inspire thepassion and drive throughout the rest of the organisation to ensure everyone is pulling in the right direction.

Discussion and debate is at the heart of successful business leadership butas a founding team it is essential to present a common vision.

V i s i o n

D u t y

CommercialInvestors are also looking to be assured that thepeople running the team have the requisite skills tomake a commercial success of the business.

They want to see a significant return on their investment so if theyhave little faith in the commercial nous of those in charge they willtake their money to the next start up or they will replace those in keypositions.

It’s important there is a sense of purpose and a duty of carefor the business entity and it’s people.

While the leaders of the business are focused on delivering success itcan’t be to the detriment of their team.

Potential investors need to have faith in the strength ofthe founding team.

Tough decisions need to be made and made quickly.

If there is a sense of indecision among the founding team this won’tinspire investor confidence.

DecisionMaking

Stomachfor aFight

Fun Finally, something I’ve noticed is that the best businesses outthere all generally seem to be having fun.

They know how to work hard but they are all acutely aware thatit’s essential to enjoy what you do too.

Scaling up a business is hard work.

Investors are looking for people who have the stomach for thefight, who will work the long hours and lead by example, settingthe tone for the business.

As mentioned investors won’t accept passengers and will quickly identifythe weak link in the team and will want them replaced.

How Important is yourFounding Team

John Peebles - It is essential you recruit the rightpeople at the right stage of business. Working in andrunning a start-up or scale-up business is a fast pacedenvironment and you can’t carry passengers, especiallywhen they are in decision-making positions. The rightexperience is essential at every step of the process, I’vefound people very often can’t learn quickly enough.

However I also firmly believe that you have to balancethat experience with the right values alignment. We arefocused on creating the ultimate human organisationbut this is reliant on everyone at within the leadershiplevel buying into our values and living them. Theinvestors we work with also share a passion for ourvalues. Much as the right founding team is important inattracting investment so the investors have to buy intoyour values too.

David Hunter – I think it’s essential to be honest withyourself and know your own capabilities. The focus has

to be on building the best product or service on themarket and ensuring that the company as a whole is

successful. Ego can’t get in the way of the end goal.

For instance, I have a strong technical backgroundand have been central to the technical development ofShot Scope but I knew to ensure we produced the verybest product I needed someone with the even greater

technical ability than I have. Lewis our CTO has broughta whole new dimension to our product. Combining this

with even greater customer insight has made a realdifference.

Maria Rooney - The characteristics that the founders atFanduel demonstrated from the outset are still verymuch in evidence today. If I was to describe themcollectively I would say they are ambitious, risk takers,tenacious, innovative, people focused and collaborative.Despite being based in the UK, they pioneered an entireindustry with the introduction of their daily fantasysport product which they launched in 2009. Theownership and autonomy that they fostered within theteam has resulted in a strong sense of loyalty andcommitment to the company.

The remaining founders balance being close to thedetail with leading the strategy; they have trusted theteam around them to hire the right people to make theright decisions for the business. The optimism that theyhave helps employees to remain focused even duringthe times of adversity that start-ups face. They remainopen with their communication and make themselvesavailable (through structured and unstructuredchannels) for people to talk to which is important as youscale your business.

Colin Hewitt - The ability to deliver is vital. Whenyou’re working in such a small group, especially

amongst the founding team who should be leading byexample, everyone has to be hitting their targets.

Also, as mentioned, understanding what skills you need

at different stages of your business journey is so vital.This has been very important as we scale up. Natural

tensions have emerged as we've grown - which isus hitting our own limits.

AttractingNew Talent

&Building anEmployer

Brand

Founders need tobecome transformational

leaders focused on inspiring theteam to push boundaries and pursue

big goals, uniting round a shared purpose.

Just when you thinkyou’ve got your team and

situation figured out, thingschange.

In a growing businessthere comes a time when youhave to stop thinking small

and step up.

Jane Kennedy

It’s important to recognise that the dream team that youenvisioned for your StartUp is not necessarily going totranslate as your business grows. It’s extremely difficult toachieve a team of qualified go-getters who will nurtureyour business as if it’s their own.

Trying to find individuals with the right blend of mindsetand technical skills, prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ torealise the dream, without the emotional (or equity)investment of the founders is a challenge!

Start by defining a clear picture of what you’relooking for. Create a strong employer brand todefine what you want for the future of a companyso that new employees know what they are buyinginto. This should be an extension of your existingbrand values so that your internal customers arefed the same message as your external clients.

You need to create and commit to a process forhow positions are defined, promoted and filled.What does the interview process look like; whoneeds to be involved in the hiring process and whohas the final say?

It’s also important to give consideration to hownew individuals fit into the hierarchy and salaryscale and what the on-boarding process shouldinvolve to ensure that your new employee fullyunderstands your company and their place in it.

Read on for ourexpert team’s

insight into howto create a

winning culture,write a

compellingadvert and tohire the right

people.

In such a competitiveenvironment differentiating

your brand to attract the besttalent can be a real

challenge.

The first thing to say is your brand is notjust the logo that sits at top of yourheaded paper or on your website. It isthere to represent the organisation youare creating based on the values and theethos of have instilled.

The key to this is to be honest andestablish something you believe in. Youwill find it hard to maintain a mindsetfor your company and encourage othersto believe in it ifyou don’t.

Put yourself into the mind of yourcustomers, both internal and external,and identify what you want them to feelwhen they have any interaction withyour company.

CREATING YOUR EMPLOYER BRAND

To Showcase Your CompanyCulture

Jennifer Telfer

Download any guide into brandingand you’ll find a range ofapproaches. However, havingworked with a number ofsuccessful companies we’ve foundthere are a few key building blocksthat will ensure you are on the righttrack to building a home for yourbrand.

Every brand has a story. How it came into existence,how it has got to where it is now, what has made it

the organisation it is today.

People are interested to hear what has gone beforebut this also provides you with a foundation from

which to build your house.

Brand StoryThe Foundations

Brand ValuesThe Ground Floor

BrandPersonality

The First Floor

Brand VisionThe Rooftop

Your brand story will then dictate the values upon which you willbuild your company. These will provide you with the blueprintthat will inform the decisions you make going forward and willhelp you create the customer touch points that will build a pictureof you company in their mind.

They will dictate everything from the way your company isrepresented on social media to the creativity in your advertising;the tone of your communication to the layout of your offices andthe customer feedback system you implement.

Your brand personality emerges from your values. This is thepersonalisation of your business and how you’re organisation is

perceived by those working with you and for you.

All your communication channels should reflect these personalitytraits so put yourself into the mind of your customers, both

internal and external, and identify what you want them to feelwhen they have any interaction with your company.

This is the final part of constructing your brand. Your visionencapsulates all the other elements into one clear statement thatyour whole organisation can rally behind.

It could be to establish the number one company in your market,you might want to become the best employer brand in thecountry.

Whatever your vision is make sure it isbuilt on sound foundations.

How To WriteA Concise & CompellingJob Description

Michelle Lownie

Job and Person Specificationstend to be focused on the skills andexperiences a company require of a

new individual.

Sometimes these can be cut, pasted and copied fromothers and then amended which tends to come across as

confusing.

Taking time out to think about the role and personyou require can be highly beneficial.

As an organisation scaling up itneeds to be more than a list ofduties and responsibilities.What is going to attract yourcompany to an individual overand above a recognisable andstable brand that can providepredictable but stableemployment?

Before considering a move acandidate will want to see acompelling, well written jobdescription that sells thecompany, the role and thevision. You want to attract thebest candidates for your rolegiving you access to top talentrather than fielding outcandidates who are unsuitable.

Show candidates that your rolecould be career changing andstrategic for their future, helpthem visualise their input andalign their goals andaspirations to your company.

You need to of course to provide:

Don’t forget that it also needs tocomply with EmploymentLegislation.

Role definitionPerson specificationSkills, experience and relevant qualificationsCompany Culture &EnvironmentSalary, Benefits and theopportunities

Sell what top talent in themarket is buying – which

doesn’t tend to be bigsalaries and inflated job

descriptions.

At Talent Spark we are regularly asked bysmall companies and start-ups to advise

them on their recruitment process forgrowth.

This is the perfect time to advise as thepeople who are working with you at the

start, while they might not be with you allthe way through, are the people that help

you build the brand and ethos that willdefine your company.

Top Tips ForMaking The Right Hires

Megan Vinten

We get asked to assist with scoping out team structures,writing job descriptions, refining interview processes and

advising on salaries & benefits packages.

In doing this work we have identified our top hiring tipsfor the start-up with lofty ambitions.

This is a difficult balance to strike. As agrowing company you need to be awareof the shape your company will take inthe future and need to hire the right skillsand people to help you get to this.However you also have an immediaterequirement that you need to meet.

Take time to think about how you canstrike the best balance between thesetwo situations – for example looking for aCTO who will eventually be able tomanage a technology product and leadteam won’t help with the currentrequirement of someone who is hands onto help building a product. Hiring aSenior Engineer who has the capacity togrow into a CTO role but can get stuck insolving your current problem might be ahappy-medium.

Always plan for thefuture but don’t forget

your current needs

Finding the right person-fit fora company scaling up can bedifficult. The fact that a lot of skillsare currently in high demand, mixedup with lower salaries typicallyoffered by smaller companies andyour vacancy suddenly seems verydifficult to recruit.

You don’t have the cash to providehuge salaries – so what else can youoffer?

More and more we are seeingcandidates asking about other non-financial benefits; additionalholidays, options to buy/sellholidays, flexible or home workingarrangements, extendedmaternity/paternity leave andequity in the company.

Really think about what you havethe ability to offer and speak tocandidates about what’s importantto them.

Be Competitive

Be realistic in what you expectfrom candidates.

Which skills and experience arereally essential and which ones

could a good candidateprobably learn? Which ones

could potentially be put on holduntil the next hire?

Don’t create a wish list

Employer Brand & Culture

Our Panellists On...

We have tried to keep it reasonably simple. Our staff are the bedrock of everything we do asan organisation. We want to create the ultimate human organisation whose staff are thereason for our success. In keeping it as focused as possible we have two simpleelements that are key to our organisation;

Mechanism – Administrate is built on a values based culture. The values weexpect people to hold are ingrained in everything we do. They motivateme and they motivate my team.

Learning – Our brand is built around the shared dream ofthe UHO, and the way we’re going to achieve that isthrough constant learning and improvementwithin the context of our values.

However this is wasted if your organisationloses its identity as it grows. This is youressence, it’s what differentiates youfrom the competition.

Creating the right brand is what differentiates you.

It sets you apart and can attract the talent you are after.

Unless you are passionate about golf our product doesn’t havethe universal appeal that others do so it was essential we created a

culture that appealed to our target market.

We focused on an American style culture with open offices, flexible working,drinks after work either in the office or out as a group.

In my opinion the other important ingredient to creating a brand people want towork for is to operate an open and honest culture. We have a warts and all approach

and every quarter we’ll do a Q&A so that the staff have the chance to ask questions andtalk to any of the leadership team.

John Peebles

David Hunter

Focus on what you’re passionate about and make sure that that is coming acrossclearly to the outside world.

The best talent will have an idea that they are good and will look to identifywith that success

People that are right for other companies won’t be right for you -so we try and be real, and communicate that as authentically

as we can.

We don’t try and pretend, but we also recognisewe could do a better job of communicating

really what we’re all about.

Building a brand to attract talent follows theexact same principles as building a brand toattract customers.

Strong brands are authentic, relevant, and distinct -those principles employed correctly will always attract newcustomers and likewise top talent.

From an outside perspective, we have all the trappings of a SiliconValley start-up with ping pong and fully stocked beer fridges but if youtook that all away tomorrow, we also have the strong foundations in placethat are important in both attracting and retaining talent. We focus on culture, diversity, innovation, employee development andcommunication and our employees are our greatest advocates as they championFanDuel at events and through the recruitment process.

Colin Hewitt

Maria Rooney

For start-ups and small businesses, recruitment can be adaunting process with the key to avoiding pitfalls beingpreparation.

Before you get started, organise employer's liability insurance, setup a payroll system, register as an employer with HMRC, and checkwith the Pensions Regulator whether you need to set up a pensionscheme.

When advertising the role consider the main tasks and objectives,and the qualifications and skills required of any candidates, as wellas job title, salary range, and hours. To avoid discriminating useneutral language (salesperson, rather than salesman) and avoidloaded terms (such as ‘youthful', or ‘active').

After interview, you can issue a job offer conditional upon gettingreferences and evidence of the right to work in the UK. Check thatthe salary is in line with the national minimum wage.

Ensuring You Are LegallyCompliant

With Your Job Offers

Morton Fraser

You must issue a contract with certain requiredinformation. Whilst sample documents are available

online, it is better to have documents tailored so you canensure the terms both meet the legal requirements and

reflect the needs and culture of your business.

Employers in the technology sector, for instance, shouldinclude duties dealing with confidentiality and the

ownership of intellectual property.

As You Grow

Maintaining Your CompanyCulture

Leadership is important in any business but it is vitalwhen you are growing.

Growth usually brings about change and creates periodsof instability where everything is amplified- whetherthat’s positively or negatively.

Leadership is not to be confused with Management. In asmall team it’s easy to supervise your team; you knowwhat they are doing and how they are doing it but as theteam increases you don’t have the time to supervisethem in the same way.

You have to clearly determine in the business who ismanaging and who is leading the team.

A relaxed culture of fun and freedom is great for a smallgroup, but can be tough to manage with larger

teams, however not impossible, if you’re dedicated anddetermined.

The environment you’ve created is a big part of yourcompany identity and working out how to maintain orevolve it as you grow is essential to bringing the team

with you.

Leadership is aboutlooking after people,

fostering the right culturesand behaviours and setting

the tone for the businessfor the future.

Most problems in a growing organisation result from alack of communication. In a small business employeeshave sight of the whole company they feel connected tothe leadership team and the brand, ethos and values ofthe organisation. As the company grows they need tounderstand the changing needs of the business – what’sexpected from them and what behaviours may not nowbe tolerated.

In reality, this is the time to create a structured system ofappraisals, reviews etc. It’s best to have this in placebefore you are big enough to really need them. If youstart with the right practices the growth of the businesswill be much smoother. Introducing a system when youare already trying to battle growth and change makesthings more challenging.

If employees are engaged and involved they feel inspiredto come up with ideas to help grow the business. Yourbest performers will get other opportunities and if youdon’t work to make them feel valued, trusted, involved ormotivated then they’ll move elsewhere. Reflect on what’sworked effectively in the past and consider means tocontinue/develop the procedure.

Correcting a negativeculture is much more

difficult thanstopping it forming in

the first place!

Could you maintain innovative, agile ways ofworking with smaller cross functional teamsfocussed onto individual projects? Can you keep communication from the topeffective with internal newsletters? Would regular team meetings and socialactivities keep the right mix of fun and focus?

Mostimportantly

create a systemof feedback

which allowsthe team to

comment onthe new waysof working toensure they

remainengaged and

continue to feelinvolved.

There is no easy solution to maintaining your culture as you grow.

It takes time and hard work but you have to be very intentionalabout it. Spending time refining and perfecting your training isvital as this has to grow with you to reflect your organisation.

Something that not all investors want to hear is that it takesinvestment too. You have to invest significant amounts of money

in your processes and training if you are committed to creatingand maintaining the winning culture that has helped you getstarted. I find regular one to ones are a good opportunity to

maintain the personal culture we want to foster here.

Maintaining Company Culture

John Peebles

At Shot Scope we have designed our approach to recruit forpersonality first and then for skill. We have a very young

ambitious culture here and we want hungry people who demandsuccess.

Generally our workforce is young and we find they tend to havethe stamina and passion to sustain the pace we look to maintain

in our business. But we are committed to this approach andbelieve this commitment will help us maintain our culture.


David Hunter

For me it’s about keeping the energy levels up and being clear on what yourcompany is all about and where it’s going - that’s still something a lot of

companies are trying to figure out - so it’s tough in the early days.

Apple has a different culture to Facebook which has a different culture toAmazon.

The culture will develop out of the direction you’re taking as a business andthe strength of the relationships, the energy and the vision that people can

bring to those roles.

What matters to me is that it's authentic and not fake, that people aregenuinely excited about their roles and are moving more towards theirstrengths and the team is evolving to fit the gaps. On top of that - we’relooking into systems that will serve us better, to allow us to clarify our

objectives company wide, and make sure we’re communicating as clearly aspossible as we grow, helping people understand where they fit in, and what

they can bring which is unique to them.


Colin Hewitt

The definition of a winning start-up culture will be different for different people. We have tried to maintain the behaviours that were so successful from theoutset and to embed these with new hires through our recruitment and on-boarding process. There is an evolution that needs to take place when yourheadcount increases dramatically and you are no longer a ‘start-up’. As the

culture evolves, it means you can be more thoughtful in terms of what makes agreat culture, the early days are about product development and meeting the

needs of the customer and board.

As we have grown, we have defined what our culture is, articulated ourvalues, conducted surveys to understand where we are working well and also

what needs to be improved to ensure that we are always moving forward. Controlled growth is important and understanding the changes and the impact

on employees is crucial. The CEO and board members have taken employeesthrough the tech cycle journey to demonstrate the highs and lows that comewith it, bringing employees on this journey helps them to see what is ahead of

them and they become passionate about being part of making history.


Maria Rooney

It can be a real challenge to maintain the start-up culture if the company has tolook overseas for key skills. What makes many start-ups attractive, and

successful, is the flexibility for employees to take on different roles but this isdifficult to fit alongside the Home Office requirements that sponsored workers

only carry out the particular job they were hired for.

Similarly the Home Office system requires employees to work full time and forcompanies to closely monitor attendance and output, which can be difficult

where a start up's culture involves flexible or remote working.

These problems can be overcome with careful planning but a start-up needs toseriously consider how they will meet their obligations to the Home Office ifthey look to hire workers from outside the EU. Putting simple procedures in

place, and making sure staff are aware of these, can go a long way topreventing issues from arising.


Stuart McWilliams

Managing your Team

Across Multiple Locations

Managing a team that's spread out in many locationscan present huge challenges, even for the mostexperienced leaders.

How do you ensure that everyone feels they're treatedfairly, if you see some team members much more thanothers?

How can you prevent remote team members fromfeeling isolated? And how do you get all members tobuy into the team's objectives and stay on track?

Have a strong communications strategy.

This is especially important if your team membersare in different time zones and speak differentlanguages. Make sure that the technologies you use– such as instant messaging, VoIP, andteleconferencing – are reliable.

Frequent technology failures are frustrating forremote workers who can't easily pick up the phone ifthe video suddenly fails during a virtual meeting.

Encourage your sites to integrate and allowemployees to visit the other locations occasionallyto get to know their colleagues in other places.

You want the team to feel connected and integratedtowards a common goal. This is especially importantwhen the team is internationally spread.

Language andcultures can

create invisiblebarriers to

communicationso beware of the

challenges oftranslation and

interpretation ofwhat’s reallybeing said.

Finally, when your organisation spansseveral countries or continents make sureyou find people who really buy into your

organisation – you need to ensure that theywill be loyal to the ethos and values of your

business.

Technology is key to ensuring effectivecommunication across multiple locations. All of our

five offices have large theatre areas where we allgather and take part in our weekly all company calls

which are also broadcast to those dialling in fromhome.

Company days are held twice a year across alllocations where we share not just business updates

but also cultural updates and of course our socialevents.

We have had held forums to discuss virtual workingto ensure that our meetings are effective andinclusive and we have also created chat rooms forpeople to still have the water cooler conversationseven if they are sitting in different offices.

Different communication channels are neededdepending on the message so to ensure that themessage is received consistently, we consider thebest medium to communicate key messages. Thereis still the need for regular face to face contact andemployees travel for project work and teammeetings.

We operate across different time zones and we havea lot of creative people. We aren’t policy heavy so wemanage teams with a view of what we can makehappen rather than what we can’t.

We strongly believe that what we put in, we will getback tenfold.

Our culture isbased on trust so

employees canmanage their

working hours ina way that isgoing to suit

them.

The Implications of Brexit

On The Tech EcosystemIn Scotland

I think Brexit will be a challenge for tech startups in Scotland, particularly interms of staffing.

A number of my clients have recruited heavily from the EU in recent yearsand there are concerns about whether staff will be able to stay or not, a

recent Chamber of Commerce survey said 5% of companies hadexperienced resignations due to Brexit!

Early indications are that staff who arealready employed will be able to staybut we can't be of sure of this and Irecommend EU nationals considerapplying for registration certificates orresidence cards to help protect theirposition in the UK.

It's a really simple process and onlycosts £65 so it's well worth theinvestment.

We don't know what the post Brexitsystem will look like but in alllikelihood it's going to be harder forcompanies to hire from the EU and thiswill be a significant challenge for thesector.

@talent_spark

in/talentspark-community

[email protected]

With Thanks To Our Panellists

0131 550 1100

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