Our Origin
The ethical business revolution begins
When Sarra Bejaoui started her career as a receptionist with an Edinburgh design and marketing agency on Dublin Street South, she always knew that one day she would have her own business. However, she was determined to do things differently to other companies and build something with ethical values at its heart. Driven by Sarra’s passion for people, that same office building she worked in is now the headquarters of SmartPA, the market leading outsourcing, virtual assistant, and business support brand.
Co-founded in 2008 alongside CEO, Andrew Wright, SmartPA rapidly grew to become experts in administrative services, with female empowerment at the heart of its operations.
Staff are recruited on a partnership basis as part of a revolutionary ethical franchising model, where SmartPAs, many of whom are women returning to work after a career break, can embark on a professional journey offering their expert business support skils and be in charge of their revenue potential. This innovative model means the SmartPA brand now spans the globe with a roster of highly trained SmartPAs, supporting over 1,800 clients, while our specialist training programme has been accredited by the Continuing Professional Development Standards Office (CPDSO), earning the global gold standard.
From our roots in Edinburgh
Both Sarra and Andrew have never forgotten their roots, growing up in Edinburgh council estates, with a strong ethos of promoting equality running throughout the business.
“My hunger for success and need to be the best version of myself has always been present and I try to mirror this in everything that I do” Sarra says. “I wanted to create a business that empowers people to be the best version of themselves as well.” Sarra began the firm as a service to help time-poor, high-net-worth individuals.
Andrew, whose extensive business experience includes the hospitality industry and food tech, was among her clients. With the global financial crash looming he suggested a switch to B2B [Business-to-Business], as increasing numbers of firms sought cost-effective support just to survive the meltdown. This became the smart-pa.com brand offering agile PA services to business here and offshore.
“Sarra completely inspired me,” Andrew recalls. “She is a very empowered female herself and has a great ambition.”
To a global success story
We quickly chalked-up a string of milestones as we moved from supporting one-person start-ups and SMEs to securing the first corporate accounts.
The number of SmartPAs has grown from just 50 a decade ago, with trained and vetted support staff offering executive and administrative services. They work in ‘SmartPods’ providing a main point of contact, backed up by colleagues with a huge range of skills and experience. This industry-leading innovation mitigates against the risks and impact of sickness, holidays and staff attrition while cutting costs for clients.
We now have partners in Dubai, Malta, the US, Ireland, France, Malaysia, South Africa, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and Japan. Meanwhile, the establishment of business outsourcing hubs in Malaysia and South Africa is helping deliver fair wages across disadvantaged communities, while our head office in Edinburgh deals with client engagement, marketing, business, support and finance.