Edinburgh-based financial sector recruitment and headhunting company Core-Asset Consulting said on Monday it has recorded its best ever set of annual results.

Core-Asset said it achieved post-tax profits in excess of £500,000 in 2018-19.

Founder and managing director Betsy Williamson said staying faithful to the firm’s core specialisms helped it enjoy its most successful year since it was launched in 2005.

“The results speak for themselves and to say I am proud of what the team has achieved doesn’t even begin to do them justice,” said Williamson.

“Delivering profits of this scale a year after recording a small loss really puts it into perspective …

“We are now in better shape than we’ve ever been to meet the challenges the financial sector, in particular, is facing.”

Core-Asset made its reputation in Scotland’s asset management sector — allowing it to expand across the wider financial services market.

It now boasts dedicated accounting and finance teams and it also works in Scotland’s thriving legal sector.

Williamson added: “We’re at a pivotal point in time in Scotland as many of our traditional home-grown firms and brands are disappearing.

“Instead – and across most of our disciplines – it is the multinational ‘supertankers’ at one end and the boutique independents at the other extreme that are flourishing.

“By specialising, we’ve been able to keep closely attuned to the changes and the challenges, working with our clients to provide long-term valuable employees or short-term solutions.

“We’re also fairly lucky because our clients are our candidates and our candidates are our clients.

“So If I’ve got an MD job or a Chief Operating Officer job, the people that I would recruit for are the people that are my candidates …

“As the business has matured, so has our core leadership team – and we’ve realised that the onus is on us to give the next wave of talent the tools, responsibility and trust to develop quickly and consistently.

“It’s given us a brilliant platform going into the new decade and we look forward to taking on the challenges along the way.”