Stellar growth for Stellamar

An employment solutions specialist in southern England has signed up to a further year at an innovation hub in Southampton as part of its expansion plans.

Stellamar has grown over 30 months from two desks at Ocean Village Innovation Centre (OVIC) to five open-plan offices with 11 staff.

Led by managing director Alasdair MacMillan, a former University of Southampton student, the business provides recruitment, training and HR consultancy in sectors such as maritime, energy and financial services.

The firm is also expanding its offering to the built environment sector with the appointment of Mike McDonald as business manager and principal consultant; he came from FRAME Recruitment in Southampton.

Stephen Deller, OVIC’s centre manager, said: “Stellamar is a great example of a thriving OVIC occupier which can scale up office space on site without having to go through the expense and time of searching for new premises elsewhere in Southampton.

“As part of its growth plans, the firm has signed up a further year at OVIC, taking the innovation hub’s occupancy level to nearly 90%.

“Stellamar arrived here in August 2015 and it’s fantastic to see how well the business has done since.”

He added: “One of the many advantages of being located here is the opportunity for occupiers to do business with one another.

“For example, quite a few of the 40 firms at OVIC are involved in the UK’s £13.5 billion maritime sector, which means companies like Stellamar, which has a maritime specialism, can offer along-the-corridor consultancy.”

Alasdair MacMillan, Stellamar’s managing director, said: “As well as our core maritime, energy and financial services sectors, we are growing services for built environment clients and candidates through the appointment of Mike McDonald.

“On the maritime front, our existing seagoing client portfolio is growing exponentially, we are expanding the maritime team, as well as our service offering, to handle this demand.

“Stellamar is also focusing on accountancy roles within the financial services for management and senior management in practices – specifically corporate tax and audit.

“It is against this exciting backdrop that we have committed to at least another year at OVIC.”

Alasdair added: “As well as OVIC looking after reception, mail and office cleaning for us, there is the added reassurance of being able to call upon expert advice, guidance and support from OVIC's innovation director, Richard May, should we need it.”

Stellamar also provides expert HR consultancy for businesses which do not have an in-house HR function; services include performance and attendance management, reward and benefit, employee relations and disciplinary and grievance.

Operated by Oxford Innovation, OVIC has 70 serviced offices.

Oxford Innovation also runs 24 other innovation centres across the UK, including three others in Hampshire – Fareham Innovation Centre, BASE Bordon Innovation Centre and Portsmouth Technopole.

According to official figures, the UK maritime sector directly contributes around £13.5 billion to national output, otherwise known as GDP, and supports more than 110,000 jobs.

Various firms at OVIC are involved in maritime work, from ocean satellite mapping and placement of high-quality crews on vessels to cutting-edge communication technology and cargo logistics.