Softcat (LSE: SCT), a leading IT infrastructure provider, has opened its sixth UK office in the heart of central Glasgow just a year after opening its Leeds office. The office is currently manned by 14 employees (six existing team members and 8 new recruits) who were recruited and trained in January 2016; until today's move they have been temporarily based in serviced offices in Glasgow. Softcat expects staff numbers to more than double by the end of the year. 

With excellent access to a large pool of talented graduates from nearby universities, as well as non-graduates looking for a new opportunity, Softcat anticipates that the new Glasgow office base will enable it to boost its headcount significantly. It will also give the IT reseller access to a wider set of customers across all markets, opening up new potential opportunities for growth and investment.

"This move to Scotland has been on the cards for some time with an aim to significantly develop and grow our relationship with both existing and new clients based in Scotland," said Jamie Burke, Softcat's sales director. "We have over 500 longstanding clients in Scotland already, but like all customers, they and other businesses like to deal with local people, so it's important for us to have a presence in Scotland staffed largely by 'home-grown' employees. Very few UK resellers have made this level of investment to grow their business up here in Scotland. We're taking a bold, calculated approach and making a significant commitment from the word go – with a strong customer base up here already it makes sense for us at this stage. Furthermore, some of our key business partners such as Microsoft, HP, Dell and Cisco have been telling us for some time that there is a huge potential for Softcat to make a real impact in Scotland as a direct result of our unwavering focus on staff and customer satisfaction."

The office, which has capacity for 90 people, is located in Nelson Mandela place, a buzzing social area just off Buchanan Street with lots of bars and restaurants. The selection of this particular area was key to the new strategy according to the Glasgow Office Manager, Tom Hough:

"At Softcat we pride ourselves on having a really strong and vibrant culture, and I think that the immediate environment of the new office is a key component of this. With this central location, our team in Glasgow will be able to pop to the shops in their lunch hours, and socialise after work in one of the many bars and pubs. The office itself is decked out in our trademark Softcat style with a nod to local culture. It features tartan themed décor, an X-box, pool table and Ping-Pong for staff to relax and unwind," said Tom. "We're keen to access a new pool of talent previously out of reach to us below the border. There are some excellent universities in Scotland and through our new office we hope to raise our profile there further – in three years we'd ideally like our Glasgow team to become one of our more significant offices."

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