‘It’s never been about profit, it’s been about trying to create an amazing agency in Scotland’

● Whitespace has steadily grown, with a wall full of awards to prove its strength

There may be a fully fitted-out bar in the highly enviable offices of the creative agency that says “there ain’t no party like a Whitespace party”.

But within just a few minutes of talking to co-owner and managing partner Iain Valentine, it’s clear that he and the workforce of more than 80 are also serving up a spirited work ethic to justify the rewards.

Noting that agency life “is pretty full on”, he highlights a poster in the bar saying “work hard and be nice to people” and adds that another hangs in his house.

“It really signifies for me what Whitespace is all about,” he says. “We do work really, really hard but we want to enjoy what we do. We want to work with great people in a great environment.”

The firm, which started out in 1997 and says it is Scotland’s largest independent creative agency, covers strategy, creative, technical, content and account management, and about a year ago moved into the bespoke premises at Norloch House on King’s Stables Road. Facilities in the 12,500-square-foot site include custom meeting rooms based on typefaces, a 120-capacity event space and even a basketball hoop, as well as uninterrupted views of Edinburgh Castle.

The investment certainly provides a strong statement of intent regarding the firm’s ambitions, although Valentine stresses that the fit-out