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FM announces 385 new Geniac jobs during his 385th week in office.

In what is his 385th week in office, First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday (Thursday, October 23) announced 385 new jobs for Glasgow from business management company, Geniac.

Geniac is a fully managed business services platform for startups and SMEs across the UK, and will recruit highly skilled professional services jobs in the city over the next three years.

The start-up will offer accounting, insurance, legal and HR services to SMEs, so entrepreneurs and business owners can focus on the development and growth of their enterprises. Geniac will collaborate with leading UK outsourcing business, Webhelp UK, as an investor and partner for global service delivery.

Harper Macleod LLP, one of Scotland's leading law firms, is also a key supporter and has helped design its legal solutions with the aim of changing how small businesses source their legal services.

The Geniac jobs comes the day after the First Minister announced the number of young people unemployed in Scotland is at the lowest level for six years. Scottish youth unemployment rate is down by 5.6 percentage points over the year while the UK unemployment rate is down 5.1 percentage points over the year.

Speaking from the Citizen M Hotel in Glasgow, where the idea for Geniac originated, the First Minister said:

“Today’s Geniac jobs along with the latest employment figures are yet further positive signs that Scotland is an attractive place to invest and demonstrates Scotland’s economic recovery is ongoing. By pure coincidence, these 385 jobs are being announced in what is my 385th week as First Minister.

“Now 72,000 young people are unemployed in Scotland – a drop of 29,000 over the year – and the lowest level since 2008. Scotland now has a higher employment rate, lower unemployment rate and lower inactivity rate for young people than the rest of the UK.

“By taking care of some of the day-to-day tasks SMEs face, Geniac will free up those who run businesses to focus on what matters most – growing their businesses. Our Small Business Bonus Scheme removed or reduced taxation for over 92,000 premises in 2013-14 - up almost 4,000 from the year before.

“The Scottish Government is constantly working to make sure Scotland is the best place in the UK to do business, and I’m delighted companies like Geniac are taking advantage of it."

Geniac was founded by entrepreneurs and business consultants Eduardo Martinez and Michael Galvin, who first met at Accenture more than 10 years ago. The observations and experiences gleaned throughout their careers led Eduardo and Michael to discover a gap in the market for a fully managed professional services platform to support growing businesses.

Michael Galvin, Geniac co-founder explains how the service works:

“We believe that if you take away the ‘pain’ of business - the day-to-day essential services such as contracts, accounts, compliance issues, pensions and insurance - then the owner and driving force of the business is freed up to get on with what they want to do best - grow, nurture and develop their business."

Eduardo Martinez, Geniac co-founder adds:

“We chose Glasgow as the base for our first Geniac centre because of the wealth of talent, support and academic acumen that exists in Scotland. Working with the Scottish Government and our partners Webhelp UK and Harper Macleod enables us to draw on firmly cemented networks and expertise that together will support us in fostering SME and startup growth throughout the UK.

“In addition, through our relationship with Startup Grind Scotland, we have started building strong ties with the local entrepreneurial community and look forward to enabling these new Scottish businesses reach their full potential.”

Lena Wilson, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise, said:

“We are delighted to support Geniac’s growth through Regional Selective Assistance, creating 385 new jobs in Glasgow.

“The fact that the company identified Scotland as the premier location for their business also strengthens our position as a key location for business services.

“We look forward to continuing our work with Geniac as they build their operations here in Scotland.”

Notes To Editors

For more information on Geniac, visit: www.geniac.com 

For more information on the ONS stats, visit: http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Youth-unemployment-at-six-year-low-1186.aspx

Geniac has been supported by an RSA grant of £1.1 million. For more information on RSA grants, please visit: http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/rsa

The platform is intuitive and simple to use. Each customer is supported by a named account manager who is responsible for managing their business through a combination of personal interactions and the online GENIAC platform.

GENIAC services cover four core area which include:

• Accounting, including book keeping, expenses management, tax and VAT
• Legal, including company secretarial services, contracts, trademarks, incorporation, policies, and legal documents
• HR, including payroll, contracts, policies, employee management such as pre-employment checks, auto-enrolment pensions, maternity and paternity leave, sick pay, disciplinary procedures, redundancies, and disputes
• Insurance protection, for example against tribunals and compliance issues, as well as all your commercial insurance needs.

Pricing packages start from £119 a month for a sole trader or start-up business; £229 a month for established businesses with up to 10 employees; and £429 a month for a more complex business of up to £10 million. All packages include access to the platform, managed accounting and bookkeeping (including expenses), self-assessment, insurance against legal costs, unlimited creation of legal documents and corporate compliance and admin support. Packages for established companies also include HR support incorporating compliance, payroll, pension enrolment and employee lifecycle management; and accounting processes such as project and cost centre reporting for complex businesses.

It also works with trusted partners to provide detailed specific expert advice in all these areas.