RECRUITMENT firm Denholm Associates has declared that diversity is nearing the top of the agenda for companies looking to fill positions, including boardroom roles.

The Edinburgh-based company, which has ramped up its focus on senior executive recruitment, expects diversity to emerge as the “primary” theme for the industry this year.

It highlighted its views as the agency, which has traditionally focused on sales, marketing and commercial roles, reported its best ever opening quarter. Fee income was up 32 per cent on the same period last year, amid strong activity in the food and drink, technology and digital marketing sectors.

Nicki Denholm, founder and chief executive of Denholm Associates, said companies are not seeking greater diversity in their workforces simply because it is a “nice to have”. She explained that it has been proven that businesses perform better when their teams are more diverse.

And Ms Denholm, who said enquiries from clients seeking to improve their diversity are “gathering pace”, declared the issue has become “critical” for businesses looking to grow, simply because they need to ensure they can access the best talent available.

“They recognise that a more diverse workforce is actually going to be beneficial to their company’s performance now,” Ms Denholm said. “That’s absolutely critical.”

She added: “Talent will only come to places where they believe they will have the opportunity to grow, develop, and potentially move on to the board.”

Alongside the drive for greater diversity, Ms Denholm said there was a need for the recruitment industry to raise its game, claiming that the traditional model is not helping companies reach as broad a pool of potential candidates as possible. One of the biggest changes she said is required is for agencies to make better use of digital technology. Ms Denholm said there are still elements of the executive search industry which continue to be characterised by “dare I say it, white middle aged men” relying on their “little black book” of contacts.

She stated: “Traditional exec search firms is the one area that hasn’t really moved on over a number of years.

“What we are trying to do is digitise the whole search process. If you want true diversity, you’ve got to make sure that these opportunities are open, and communicated to a really wide audience of potential candidates, not just based on your (candidates’) past work experience but what skills you have got.”

She added that recruiters who rely on old contact networks tend to come up with the “same types of people”, which she believes is “no longer sufficient for people looking to really grow their organisations.”

Ms Denholm added: “Digitising the process means you can find candidates anywhere.”

On gender diversity, Ms Denholm said she was in “two minds” over whether a quota system would be the most effective way of ensuring greater diversity in boardrooms. While she believes it is always most important to have the right person in a role, she said quotas might be needed to ensure greater diversity is ultimately achieved on senior positions.

“I’m not entirely sure I’m clear in my mind,” Ms Denholm said. “You probably need to do it [quotas] to shift things. Whether it is the right thing, I’m not 100 per sure sure.”

Meanwhile, in spite of the uncertain political backdrop, Ms Denholm said “business as usual” is the broad message coming from clients. She noted that the priority for companies remains on ensuring they remain in the “best shape” they can be ahead of any changes which may come.

Denholm announced yesterday that it had appointed long-standing employee Marisa Carroll as chief operating officer.