An Edinburgh-based corporate communications agency has appointed two high-profile advisers after strengthening its tech credentials with a series of client wins and assignments in 2021.
The Freer Consultancy has welcomed Trustpilot’s Carolyn Jameson and tech entrepreneur George Mackintosh to its team as it considers its next phase of growth in Scotland’s burgeoning digital technologies industry.
Cryptocurrency sports betting platform BetDEX, which recently secured the largest ever seed round into a UK startup, Scotland’s first internet of things (IoT) accelerator Filament STAC, remote sensor specialist startup Novosound, Scottish charity Digital Xtra Fund, space tech startup R3-IoT, and Edinburgh-headquartered investment manager Par Equity are among client wins racked up by Freer over the last few months.
Founded by Nick Freer in 2010, the agency’s client base includes St Andrews-based investment firm Eos Advisory, Europe’s first oncology drug discovery accelerator Cumulus, tech incubator CodeBase, fast-growth fintech Stellar Omada, compliance platform Amiqus, employees engagement platform Trickle, wearable tech startup PlayerData, digital skills academy CodeClan, and tech conferences EIE and Turing Fest.
Freer was a longtime PR adviser to travel search site Skyscanner and online tyre retailer Blackcircles, before going onto advise tech groups UserTesting, Deliveroo, and Trustpilot.
Freer said: “Being based in Edinburgh, it’s important to me that the client base reflects the areas of industry that make up the business scene here, while also advising UK and international companies that land in Scotland.
“Increasingly, we’ve been considering what the next five or ten years will hold for the agency, that next phase of growth. Getting Carolyn and George on board to help with that process is invaluable. Having been lucky enough to work with them, I’ve seen first-hand what incredible business leaders they are, and I have an enormous amount of respect for them both.”
Jameson is chief trust officer at Trustpilot, and was previously head of international M&A and corporate affairs at Ctrip, chief legal officer at Skyscanner, and head of legal at Wolfson Microelectronics.
She advises a number of startups, sits on the board of the Scottish National Investment Bank, and is an investment committee member with venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners (SEP).
In June 2020, Eggplant, the software testing business Mackintosh founded in 2008, was acquired by California-headquartered Keysight Technologies for $330 million (£2.5m).
Mackintosh, a former chairman of the CBI’s SME Council, is an associate and former entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh Business School, and is the founding director of the Papple Steading historic farm development in East Lothian.
He said: “I’ve used PR agencies in London, Hong Kong and in the US. I’d like to think I know what good looks like. Nick’s agency is very good. Exciting times ahead in Scotland’s – and Freer’s – international positioning.”
