A MARKETING and design agency has grown staff numbers by 40 per cent in the past year in response to growing interest in digital media among corporations and public sector bodies.

The headcount at Edinburgh-based Whitespace has increased to 70, from 50 in September last year, following a big increase in demand for the company's services.

These range from masterminding social media campaigns on platforms like Twitter and Facebook to designing adverts that are intended to look good on the screens of mobile phones.

"There's no doubt that digital is where Whitespace has grown," said the agency's managing partner, Iain Valentine

He noted the firm has won work for a range of clients in the financial services sector.

It has found that a growing number of businesses are trying to use digital media to build awareness of their brands and to connect with existing and potential customers.

Whitespace recently ran a campaign for Scottish Equitable owner Aegon which involved creating a virtual tennis game at the Queens tournament in London.

Thousands of tennis fans played on the servinator after registering with Aegon.

"It was a really nice way of engaging, that was very different for a financial services organisation," said Mr Valentine, who participated in a management buyout of the business that completed in 2010.

The MBO team also included head of digital Phillip Lockwood-Holmes and client services director Emma Jardine.

Whitespace has been creating marketing content for use on the web by Scottish Enterprise, which will utilise the huge amounts of information about business sectors in Scotland collected by the development body.

The firm designed the logo for the Edinburgh trams and related web content.

The agency has also won business from small- and medium-sized enterprises.

It supported Innis & Gunn in a drive for US sales, which included helping the craft brewer build an audience on Twitter.

The recent growth may also reflect an increasing willingness among big organisations based in Scotland to use local specialists in areas like design.

"There has been a little bit of decentralisation," said Mr Valentine. "Companies are thinking they don't necessarily need to go to London."

Using firms based in Scotland allows businesses to save on the time and money involved in flying staff to London.

Whitespace won work from some big names such as Sainsbury's Bank during the recession. The firm produces marketing leaflets used to promote the bank at tills in the parent supermarket chain.

Mr Valentine said print communications such as press adverts can still have an important role to play in integrated campaigns, alongside digital offerings.

Mr Lockwood-Holmes noted the agency created a print document that was issued to staff at Aegon's Kames Capital asset management arm recently.

The recent success has helped the company grow fee income by an average 15 per cent annually since 2008, the year in which the global financial crisis triggered a long downturn. The company recorded fee income of around £3.5 million in the year to September and traded profitably.

Members of the management team are confident Whitespace can continue on the growth path it has mapped. The recovery in the economy can only help.

The company sees scope to win more business in Scotland and from other parts of the UK.

With the internet breaking down geographic boundaries, Whitespace also has ambitions to help more firms win work overseas.