Meeting the scale-up challenge

In 2018, London-based customer contact firm VeriCall faced a business challenge – one that fast-growing startups often experience – it wanted to find a location that could offer access to talent and ongoing support to meet its growth ambitions. 

Just a year earlier VeriCall’s CEO, Adam Taylor had set up the business with around a dozen employees to provide services to Directory Enquiries firms. In its first year, the firm had expanded its customer base from two clients to more than 90. And it was already servicing two thirds of the UK market while improving both profitability and customer service.

At that time, the firm needed to move quickly to a new location which would help meet its growth ambitions. Faced with increased demand and a need to scale up to over 200 employees, it went in search of the right location that could meet its needs.

Thanks to easy access to local talent, skills training, digital technologies and supportive business environment, VeriCall chose Kirkcaldy in the heart of Scotland's Fife region to locate its operations and grow.

Getting support to set up business in Scotland

At the outset, the firm assessed and considered numerous offers from around the UK, seeking a partner region who shared its vision for blending people and technology to deliver leading-edge customer service efficiently that can compete with other UK locations.

VeriCall was reassured by our partnership approach with Fife Council that Kirkcaldy represented the best option. This was matched by Fife Council’s aspiration to grow its economy with a focus on new emerging technologies including digital.

Supported by around £1 million Regional Selective Assistance funding from Scottish Enterprise and ongoing training support and assistance from Fife Council, the firm made the decision to set up in Fife in May 2019.

Finding the right talent and skills to grow

Central to VeriCall’s operation is a need for highly skilled talent that it can develop and subsequently promote. Again, the Fife region has the local resources to match.

Since setting up, the firm has diversified its offering to provide Virtual Receptionist services. And, spotting an opportunity, it has developed technology which offers small businesses regulatory compliant payments services.

This expansion has meant that, while initial aspirations were for around 200 employees, the firm now employs around 400 including around 200 temporary employees with an aspiration over time that the temporary staff can be taken on permanently.

In scaling its operations, VeriCall has been able to tap into the existing skilled workforce in the region, many of whom had been travelling outside Fife to other similar industry posts.

Through a partnership with the local Developing Young Workforce group in the area, it has been able to offer opportunities, including Modern Apprenticeships, to young people who prefer an alternative to traditional further and higher education.

This development of local talent is a fundamental part of its strategy to ensure that it can continue to grow.