High UK costs force Beeks to expand overseas – Daily Business

Gordon McArthur: ‘we have no option but to look overseas’

A Scottish fintech boss says the UK’s high cost base is forcing him to switch his expansion plans overseas.

Gordon McArthur, chief executive of Beeks Financial Cloud, said he is looking to open an office in the Asia-Pacific area rather than expand its operations in Renfrewshire.

Beeks builds trading platforms for global stock exchanges and has seen strong momentum in the past year.

However, Mr McArthur says continued growth is at risk because high taxes and employment costs in the UK are putting the company at a competitive disadvantage.

The company has 116 people at its headquarters at Braehead, Renfrew, and is seeking a further 10, now likely to be employed in the Philippines or India.

Speaking to Daily Business, Mr McArthur said: “It is becoming economically unviable to be in the UK. Even though we don’t have any clients in Scotland the strategy has been to build in the Glasgow area.

“But there comes a point where it becomes untenable and we have to look at other options.

“We never wanted to do this. The strategy was alway UK, but the way the tax burden is now we have no other option. If we are uncompetitive on costs we will not win bids.”

Mr McArthur launched the company in 2011 and in 2017 it joined the Alternative Investment Market which has helped raise capital and its profile.

He made his comments after the company reported strong commercial momentum, laying the foundation for significant, profitable growth.

It slipped to an underlying half-year loss of £0.69m (H1 2025: £1.89m profit). However, it expects “strong profit progression” in the second half as recently secured contracts come through. 

The total contract value of new contracts signed in the period were up 23% to £11.9m (H1 FY25: £9.7m).

Mr McArthur said: “We enter the second half with strong momentum and a customer base comprising some of the world’s largest financial institutions, each with significant expansion opportunity.

“While the timing of contract wins and the increasing prevalence of revenue share contracts means the impact of this sales momentum is not reflected in financial performance in the first half, it lays the foundation for significant and enhanced profitable revenue growth in the years ahead.

“We remain focused on fulfilling our growth potential, bolstered by a building pipeline, while maintaining strict financial discipline to support our long-term ambitions.”

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