The Edinburgh-based company opened its first international office in Bangkok in October 2015 and is currently one of only a handful of dedicated IT recruiters in the country.
In the past 12 months, Cathcart Associates’ Thai team has doubled its number of dedicated consultants, all offering a specialism in a particular area of IT, such as software development, network engineering and business systems.
So far, the firm has seen significant successes, having placed a number of high calibre technology specialists for several organisations across software, e-commerce, transportation and manufacturing sectors.
The company chose to export its services to Bangkok after identifying a demand for IT recruiters who could contribute to the city’s thriving tech community and offer a bespoke recruitment service to tech businesses and IT professionals.
Gordon Kaye, managing director at Cathcart Associates, said: “We are delighted with the progress our Thai office has made in just one year. We have always wanted to take our services international and with its diverse tech scene, Bangkok seemed like the best place for us to successfully do this.
“The leap to open an office in South East Asia required a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment and much time has been spent researching the market in Bangkok, on top of establishing links with companies and potential candidates.
“We are determined to ensure that we offer the same quality recruitment services in Thailand that we do in the UK and we are confident that with a strong team in place, we can do this.”
Recognising Bangkok as a globally renowned tech hub for multinational corporations, SMEs and start-ups, Cathcart Associates has spent the past year engaging with companies and job seekers in a bid understand their needs and how best it can deliver its services to suit the Thai market.
The country is facing a digital skills gap similar to that in the UK, with an abundance of IT roles available but too few skilled professionals to fill them. Cathcart Associates hope that with its unique recruitment offering it can provide a solution to this skills gap and establish itself as the number one IT recruiter in Thailand.
Cathcart Associates managing consultant, Nick Macdougall, is heading up the Thai office. He said: “The past 12 months have been an immense learning curve for the company and for the team we have hired here in Bangkok.
“We have spent time nurturing and growing our team here, while also building relationships with clients and candidates in a bid to establish ourselves as a trustworthy and reliable IT recruiter in Thailand.
“Bangkok is home to a number of recruitment firms but very few specialise solely in technology, so we believe we have a unique service to offer firms based here. With a diverse mix of organisations in the country, no company is too big or too small to assist and we take a lot of satisfaction in building and maintaining high-quality IT teams.”
Going forward, Cathcart Associates aims to continue to build relationships with skilled candidates and tech businesses in Bangkok and will look to expand its Thai team further, aiming to double again in size over the next year.