Airlink Group backs Scottish Executive Scotland
is the Place initiative
01-09-2006
Recruiting staff from the Baltic States is helping Airlink Group
address a skills shortage and identify new opportunities
Airlink Group is one of the fastest growing private groups in
Scotland, with operations in car parking, property development,
document storage and venture capital.
Chairman John McGlynn started the Paisley-based company as
a hobby while studying accountancy and law at university and,
since opening his first car park near Glasgow Airport in 1994,
has seen the business double in size almost annually to become
Scotland's largest independent car parking group.
Airlink is
now valued around £35m and has international
offices in Tallinn, Estonia and New Delhi in India, with a future
base planned for Canada.
The company employs around a dozen workers
from the Baltic States – Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania – in document management roles, office
administration and Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) drivers.
" There's a shortage of PCV drivers in Scotland, so recruiting from the
Baltic States has helped us grow quicker," McGlynn explains. "If we
can get people that are qualified, it's good for the business now, but it also
helps us look at potential European opportunities for the future.
" Our bottom line improves year on year, but the real value
will be added when we identify those who can be the leaders of
projects in their home countries.
When the time comes that they want to go back home, this will add real significant
value for us, because getting the right people is always the biggest challenge
in doing business abroad."
McGlynn said recruiting from overseas had
introduced a range of new experiences to the business and had helped Airlink
evolve from a 'this is how we always do things' attitude to become
more open-minded about new ideas and approaches.
" I would strongly advise all companies to really embrace the Fresh Talent
initiative," he added. "To get more new people in your business from
different countries and backgrounds can only be a good thing. Sometimes fresh
eyes can give a whole new series of solutions to what might be old problems.
If anyone is looking to expand overseas this is by far the best starting point."
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