LEP holds Clinigen as exemplar for growth
A FAST-GROWING business in Staffordshire has been held up as an example of best practice for companies looking to expand.
Ron Dougan, chairman of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said Burton-based pharmaceuticals firm Clinigin could help to inspire others.
He visited the firm as part of a fact-finding mission to discover how the county’s best-performing businesses were overcoming barriers to growth.
The Clinigen Group was established in 2010 and has since developed into a global provider of specialty pharmaceutical products and services. In addition to its Burton head office, the firm also has operations in the United States and Japan. It serves more than 50 markets worldwide with an extensive customer base of international hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and contract research organisations.
In 2011, Clinigen was recognised as the fasting-growing private company in the UK by the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100.
Mr Dougan said: “It was really encouraging to see how a Staffordshire business has flourished in such a short space of time and become one of the leaders in its field.
“One of our priorities at the LEP is to support existing businesses to grow and one way to achieve this is by sharing the best practice of our most successful companies.
“Clinigen has clearly done a tremendous job and we want others to emulate its success.”
Robin Sibson, Clinigen’s chief financial officer, said: “We drive the business from a behavioural point of view; establishing an entrepreneurial culture is very important and we spend a lot of time making sure this is right. We’re very focused on our vision and mission and set clear objectives to achieve these with key performance indicators that are monitored at board level.
“It starts with recruitment – you need to get the right people who will fit with our entrepreneurial culture. We need to get medicines as far as South America and the Far East within 48 hours. Decisions need to be made fast, so we have streamlined decision making, but our people need to take responsibility and be accountable. We aim to be fair and open with our team and work hard to keep the family atmosphere we have built up from the start.”
He said the firm looked to spread its customer base to minimise risk but was careful over the timing of this.
“Our experience in growing so fast globally, entering new markets has brought us valuable lessons, helped us build a strong, united team and spurred us to go even further,” he added.
Clinigen has ambitious plans for continued global growth, so access to finance is important. It has recently floated on the London Stock Exchange AIM, raising £10m; which will enable it to maintain a strong international growth record by providing a solid platform on which to develop both organically and through acquisition of new pharmaceutical products.
