Crawford targets £100m turnover in three years

THE boss of fast-growing wound care company Crawford Healthcare has announced plans to quadruple its turnover to £100m and double its 100-strong workforce within the next three years.

And just hours after talking about his ambitious plans for the Knutsford firm, chief executive Richard Anderson received the Institute of Directors (IoD) award for science and innovation in Manchester.

The 48-year-old former ICI and AstraZeneca executive revealed the burgeoning company he bought into in 2005 has recently fended off a string of suitors wanting to buy the business.

“We’ve had a number of unsolicited request to sell the company,” he said. “Offers have come from venture capitalists and global market leaders.”

Because Crawford is privately held company it was able to fend the offers off, but Anderson and chairman and shareholder Richard Hughes have not ruled out eventually going public.

“We will do what is right for the company,” said Anderson.

Meanwhile, Crawford is continuing to go about its business as the fastest growing privately-held companies in its field.

“We are attracting a lot of attention from other companies and suitors because of our growth and research and development elements,” said Anderson.

“We are delivering the effects of and contributing to the Northern Powerhouse.”

Anderson, who spent four years in New York after leaving AstraZeneca gathering business knowledge,  attributes the success of the company to the management team he has assembled.

“I brought the knowledge I gained back to the UK and set about trying to replicate that success and repeat some of principles of AstraZeneca in finding and retaining the right people.

“And the reason for our success is the people. We have an incredibly talented management team. I set out to hire people who are smarter than me and who are the very best in their field and then find a way to pay them. We created a culture which allows us to be nimble and innovative.
 
“A lot of people talk about innovation but they don’t know what they’re talking about – they don’t know what it is.

“We’ve got our own laboratory and our own manufacturing plant in the UK and we’ve got very close links to some of the world leaders in anti-infectious and wound dressings in the University of Manchester where there are world class brains who are fleet of foot.”

Newcastle-born Anderson said the location of the business was perfect for its expansion – 20 minutes from Manchester Airport, 10 minutes from the M6 motorway and two hours by rail from London.

“It’s perfect for us here because we’ve got that and the benefits of being in the North West.”

Crawford is currently targeting major growth in the US and Germany.

Its management team includes commercial director Tim Holmes, R&D director Chris Stephenson, finance director Spencer Kerry and US & Germany director Terry Bromley.

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