Fit-out firm Morris & Spottiswood is reporting a surge in staff numbers after making 30 new appointments in the last 12 months.

The firm has driven workforce numbers by 8% on 2016 now employing a total of 390 people. It represents an even steeper rise on 2015 figures leaping from 329.

Morris & Spottiswood operates in four separate service divisions – fit-out, housing, M&E (Mechanical & Electrical) and maintenance. It works across a range of sectors including retail, housing, education, leisure, health and commercial.

Human resources director Allan Boyd said the firm has employed across all departments and levels of the business from trades people to senior management.

“We have expanded and strengthened the business with a raft of new recruits over the last 12 months,” said Mr Boyd.

“This includes project managers, quantity surveyors, trades based roles, contracts managers, administrators and estimators. We have further employed site managers, multi-skilled technicians, flooring supervisors and contracts administrators.

“All four of Morris & Spottiswood’s key divisions work closely together to provide our clients with a complete tailor-made solution. It is therefore essential that we have a depth of skill and experience across the board. We are witnessing particular growth in our M&E division where sales rose from £8 million to £18m between 2013 and 2016. This remains a key target market for the firm.

“While we are expanding with external appointments it is important to reiterate our work to promote from within and enable staff at any level to develop into larger roles. We always look to reward talented team members with management development programmes. This involves work alongside Napier University in Edinburgh, Scottish Enterprise and also Salford University. It is key to our strategy to ensure the people leading the business in the future come from within.”

Mr Boyd said the firm’s external recruitment drive is further being matched by a flourishing internal apprenticeship scheme.

“We currently have 32 apprentices and have taken on eight new recruits each consecutive year since 2014,” he said.

“In terms of current recruitment plans we have vacancies in our M&E (Mechanical & Electrical) division specifically for electrical apprentices. We are also looking for more apprentices for our fit-out business. In 2017, we will be refreshing this part of our workforce because we are passionate about providing skills for future generations and local forces. We are actively recruiting now and expect a number of new apprentices to come onstream in the next few months.

“Furthermore, our new graduate training initiative which began in 2016 is progressing well. We are taking on a new graduate as a trainee site manager next month, and we already have three trainees in our M&E division who are actively going through the graduate training programme. This specific programme is a company-wide initiative ensuring exposure and experience across different divisions. We are always keen to hear from enthusiastic trainees and encourage any potential candidates to contact our human resources team directly.”