The Astute VA - Virtual Assistant Services

17/06/2026

What's the best conference lunch you've ever had?

I can say, hands down, that this ricotta spinach lasagne from GCU was the best ever lunch, and yes I did ask for seconds 🫢

It was a busy start to the week with the organising of this year's Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL) Conference in Glasgow. Here's my video of the day. Some really inspiring and informative speakers which definitely made me consider retraining as a Librarian!

18/05/2026

✨Award Nominations ✨VA Awards 2026 ✨

Susan was the first Associate I recruited into my business and has been a joy to work with since day one! She absolutely deserves the recognition of being nominated for Associate VA of the Year at this year's UK VA Awards and the success is most certainly all hers!

Congratulations Susan Anderson!! Proud to have you on the team!

06/05/2026

✨Award Nominations🥳VA Awards 2026 🥳

A wee bit of a 'pinch yourself' moment. This time last year it was just me on my lonesome but this year, The Astute VA has not one, but two nominations. First up - ✨Lead VA of the Year with a Small Team✨

Can you guess what the other award category is?! 🧐

26/04/2026

13/04/2026

As The Astute VA approaches its five year anniversary on August 26, it feels an appropriate moment to reflect on a journey shaped by dedication, hard work, and a genuine love of supporting people.

With a background in human geography, Thea has always been interested in how people and organisations function — something that now feeds directly into the business.

At home, she’s a mum to three wildlings, having met her Dutch husband at the age of 19 whilst travelling in Eastern Europe. This year she’s especially looking forward to visiting the Outer Hebrides with her family this summer.

09/04/2026

Celebrating five incredible years this August 26, The Astute VA has grown from a one‑woman venture into a thriving support partner trusted across the charity and HE sector. Still proudly working with our very first client, we’ve recently welcomed our first associate as we scale to meet demand—fuelled in part by becoming a semi‑finalist in the 2025 VA Awards. Alongside client work, I’ve spent the past three years as a committed member of BAWE, serving as Events Secretary and organising every BAWE women’s dinner. Next steps- Scaling the business further, and expanding my team of associates.

09/04/2026

🤩🥳We're growing! Chuffed to welcome our first ever Associate to the Team. 🤩🥳 Please give her a warm welcome. 🤝

Meet Susan, a Virtual Assistant with a background in business support, education and leadership.

⏱️What makes Susan tick? Working in partnership with clients to support them in reaching their goals. She loves being a Virtual Assistant because it gives the opportunity to learn and develop new skills every single day.

🌍Favourite place to visit? South Beach in Troon, especially in the early hours before the rest of the world is awake.

✏️Three words to describe Susan? Curious, resourceful, supportive.

18/02/2026

I appreciate I'm late with this post but it deserves to be noted, so with that in mind, better late than never!

In early February the BAWE - British Association of Women Entrepreneurs Scotland held another brilliant evening, this time at Linlithgow's Champany Inn.

There’s something special about bringing together a room full of women who are building, leading, and reshaping businesses with courage and creativity. Even more so when the space is as special as that offered by Champany (and yes, the steaks are absolutely worth it!).

Thank you to everyone who joined us, both our existing members and new guests. Particular thanks goes to Gillian Crawford for Chairing, and Victoria Russell for leading a fun and unique networking session which made for a refreshing change to mix our events up a bit. Thanks also to the team at Champany who looked after us impeccably - Jason Davidson and Hamid R. Jahanfar.

Here’s to our next BAWE Scotland event, more collaboration, and more women backing women.

Photo Credit - Rebecca Holmes Photography

25/11/2025

I’m . Know anyone who might be interested in joining my team as an Associate?

For more information and a copy of the job advert please see below (click on 1drv link)

Applications are accepted via Microsoft Form - https://forms.office.com/r/gUgBHrGC9n and will remain open until enough suitable candidate applications have been received.

20/08/2025

🔔 🔔 Round 2 🔔 🔔

Really delighted to be recognised as a semi-finalist in the category for Solo VA of the year at the UK VA Awards 2025. These high-profile awards are well established (they've run since 2007), and are now managed by the wonderful Virtual Assistant Training Academy from VACT Limited run by VA Business Mentor and Trainer Amanda Johnson.

There's still another round to go 🤞, with finalists being announced on the 19 September, and the award winner being announced at the VA Conference and Awards night in Bournemouth in October.

Congrats to all those who've made the shortlist! It's so great our industry is thriving!

Semi-finalists and Finalists for the UK VA Awards 2025 We are delighted to announce the 2025 Semi-finalists and Finalists (of some categories) for the UK VA Awards 2025. Where we have semi-finalists, the finalists will be announced on Friday 19 Sep 25. The winners of each award will be revealed…