Edinburgh arm of California tech group trebles in size

A US tech group which launched its European headquarters in Edinburgh this summer has moved to larger offices after tripling in size.

UserTesting chief executive Andy MacMillan (left) and Bruce Hunter. Picture: Stewart Attwood

UserTesting has seen staff numbers surge to more than 30 at its capital base since opening in July, prompting a move to flexible office provider WeWork on George Street to accommodate growth.

The move comes as the group has secured a string of new clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), with online travel and leisure retailer Lastminute.com the latest to sign up.

This adds to its existing client portfolio of online brands including Asos, Trainline and Expedia Group, as the tech firm aims to rapidly grow its European market share.

UserTesting, believed to be the first Silicon Valley tech group to open a European HQ in Scotland’s capital, has created Human Insights, a platform designed to help clients provide a better user experience for customers.

Its flagship product facilitates direct user feedback on products and services, which it claims allows users to “make accurate customer-first decisions”.

Plan to create 100 Edinburgh jobs

The business has appointed Fergus Kennedy, former chief technology officer at cloud hosting provider Pulsant, to head up the engineering team, which now comprises 15 staff, and is looking to fill several vacancies.

The group recently acquired US-based Truthlab, a provider of machine learning-based video analysis, which is also intended to further drive engineering capability.

UserTesting plans further “significant” growth for the new year, outlining plans in July to create more than 100 Edinburgh jobs by 2022.

The capital base marks the group’s first international office and adds to sites in San Francisco and Atlanta.

Kennedy said: “The innovations in engineering and data science that we plan to deliver from our Edinburgh office will help companies worldwide to make smarter, faster business decisions with Human Insight to provide excellent customer experiences.

“As an Edinburgh native and veteran of the local technology scene, I am proud to see world-leading technology companies continue to recognise the capital of Scotland for the technology talent, environment, and resources that the local ecosystem has to offer.”

Bruce Hunter, vice president of EMEA, who previously led global sales operations for translation software firm Lingo24, added: “The European team has made considerable progress since launch–both in terms of UK headcount growth and through adding impressive brand names to our customer base.

“Over the next few years, UserTesting will continue to make major investments in the product and across the European business as a whole, to help more organisations leverage the power of on-demand human insights to make smarter, more informed business decisions.”

The California-headquartered group previously forecast that it will hit £100 million in global recurring revenue next year.

According to research conducted by Tech Nation, Edinburgh is one of the fastest-growing tech communities in the UK, employing more than 44,000 people in the tech sector.