A Brechin recruitment company launched just five years ago has been named the fastest growing firm in Britain.
Recruitment business Join Talent was launched by Katrina Hutchinson-O’Neill in 2019.
After more than 15 years in recruitment, she decided to turn her back on comfortable salaries and company cars to set up her own firm.
Just five years on, the recruitment business has clients in more than 20 countries.
She has ambitious plans for the firm, which include growing the headcount to 400.
Join Talent opened an office in Austin, Texas last year. That has helped with the firm’s growth.
Ms Hutchinson-O’Neill previously said: “We’re able to bid for and win business because most of the big companies need US coverage.”
The firm is set to open offices in the UAE later this year.
Join Talent fastest growing UK company
Now it has topped a list published by The Times of the quickest growing firms across the UK.
The company has grown its sales by 304% a year and now has sales of £17.5 million.
The Times’ list of the country’s fastest growing companies also includes sportswear brand Castore and Au Vodka.
Collectively the firms added £2.8 billion in revenues in the past three years and created more than 10,500 jobs.
Bella and Duke also among top 100
It is joined among the list of the country’s 100 fastest-growing firms by Fife-based pet food business Bella and Duke.
The firm, headquartered in Rosyth, was founded by Mark Scott and Tony Ottley after they both lost pet dogs to cancer
The co-founders wanted to find out why, and they developed a non-processed raw alternative to traditional pet food.
In 2021 they sold a minority stake for £7 million to investors led by the private equity firm BGF.
The Bella and Duke team of 135 now sells more than three million meals a month.
It reported sales in the year to March of £23.2m and the co-founders have set their sights on achieving £50m sales.
Brechin firm’s ‘remote-first’ approach
The business provides recruitment specialists and systems for large tech and financial services firms.
It operates on a “remote-first” basis, with 45% of staff based in the UK and a quarter of its workers in South Africa.
Ms Hutchinson-O’Neill said previously that having staff across the globe can be useful.
She said: “We don’t mind where someone is based. If they’ve got the right skills and they are the right culture fit, we’ll get them in.
“Because clients are spread across 23 countries, having that geographic spread across time zones is quite helpful.”
The firm won a KIng’s Award for Enterprise earlier this year.
Ms Hutchinson O’Neill attended a reception at Buckingham Palace this week to collect the prize.
The mum-of-three also said she was stunned at the success of the business.
“I never dreamt we would be so successful so quickly.”
Earlier this year, she was also named among the UK’s top 100 most influential people in recognition of the company’s achievements.
