Cirdan’s 2020 vision

Laura Henry, Finance Manager at Cirdan and Gillian Sadlier, Senior Business Manager at Bank of Ireland UK.

Bank of Ireland UK’s Gillian Sadlier, talks to Laura Henry from medical technology company, Cirdan about its growth plans.

Scaling-up is an exciting, albeit stressful, time in any business. It needs to be carefully planned, is definitely hard work and often daunting, especially at the outset. Cirdan, a really exciting business is doing just that and Laura Henry, its Finance Manager, recently took time to share its scaling for growth story with Gillian Sadlier, Senior Business Manager at Bank of Ireland UK. Gillian Sadlier (GS): Tell me a bit about Cirdan – what do you do and a little bit of the business story so far?

Laura Henry (LH): Cirdan is a medical technology company specialising in informatics software and imaging solutions which help enhance and speed up the diagnosis of patients. Our products are used all over the world and primarily by those working in pathology. We have two core products ‘ULTRA’, which is a Laboratory Information System (LIS) supporting the operations of clinical laboratories and ‘CoreLite’, an x-ray system helping expedite breast cancer diagnosis.

We are approaching our 10th anniversary this year. In that decade the business has grown from an embryonic start-up to a team of over 75 people across multiple geographic locations. We have plenty to celebrate in this landmark, from winning a new multimillion

dollar LIS contract supporting labs in Singapore and Malaysia to signing a new US distributor for our ‘CoreLite’ product…oh and moving to new premises too!

GS: Looking even further forward what is Cirdan’s vision and ambition for next three-five years?

LH: In the next three years we want to become the world’s leading laboratory informatics company. As a company and as a team, we have a strong vision to deliver on, with the ambition of being IPO ready in 2021 which will involve all aspects of the company. We aim to be recognised as a technological leader in our field, as well as being regarded as one of the best companies to work for.

GS: Where is Cirdan now and how did you determine readiness and timing to scale?

LH: We are on a strong growth curve, doubling every two years in terms of revenue.

Up until recently our focus has been on developing world class products, with our customers’ needs at the centre of the development – now we need to capitalise on that and scale even further. With our recent move to the previous Coca Cola site on the outskirts of Lisburn, this allows us the room to facilitate our expansion plans and attract new talent to join our team.

GS: To ensure that your growth is strategic is there anything that Cirdan has done differently to support growth plans?

LH: To build upon our growth we must constantly be reviewing our markets, product offerings and funding capabilities and ensure we have the right people and skills to fulfil our growth plans. A couple of examples for us are firstly to focus on new people and skills as they are key to us being able to deliver on our vision. A key part of that is the university placement programme at Cirdan where we take students on their year out from their degree to work alongside us. We take students across various disciplines from Computer Science to Stratified Medicine and Microbiology.

Secondly, early on we understood that industry and customer engagement would be a key success factor and an essential aspect of our strategy. We need to keep up to date and engage with the industry so we took a proactive approach to deliver our very own annual conference known as “Pathology Horizons”. It focuses on new technologies, procedural developments and lines of research that are driving the future of pathology. This allows us to bring together an international audience of people interested in the area of pathology and laboratory medicine, while also enabling us to connect with existing and potential customers in a meaningful way. We invite global experts in their fields to talk on ground-breaking topics such as Digital Pathology and Machine Learning.

In 2019 we held Pathology Horizons in Queenstown New Zealand, and are really excited for 2020 as we celebrate our 10th anniversary and bringing the conference to Northern Ireland. We’ll have over 150 delegates from across the globe at the beautiful Slieve Donard Resort and Spa in Newcastle, Co. Down from 10th–12th September.

“It is vital for companies to have an awareness of the different types of funding out there and how they can help you grow your business. ”

GS: How important is it to understand types of funding available and how important is it that your funding partner(s) are a good fit for your business?

LH: It is vital for companies to have an awareness of the different types of funding out there and how they can help you grow your business. There are multiple sources of funding available and easily accessible. It doesn’t have to be debt, so companies should consider and understand the options and how the different solutions work – such as equity, grants, R&D tax credits, innovation vouchers, to name a few. Then they should review and assess which ones best suit their business needs. It may even be a mix of solutions, but in determining that an essential ingredient is finding the right partner. This is key – your funding partner needs to understand your business model and buy in to your strategy and growth plans. We have been lucky to develop a long-standing relationship with Bank of Ireland, who always take the time to understand our business and strategy and build a personal partnership with the team at Cirdan.

GS: What do you think holds businesses back from scaling?

LH: Planning for the long term and strategically thinking about what’s coming next. It is very easy to get caught up in the day-today activities, but we need to make time to think about what comes next, whether it’s new product development or entry into new markets. New people and skills are key too and businesses need to include investment in retraining and acquiring these resources to meet the needs of the business now and continuously into the future.

GS: What one piece of advice would you / Cirdan share with a business looking to scale?

LH: Effective communication across your team and company – to allow them to become invested in the journey, but also effective communication externally as well – ensuring you know what differentiates your product offering and why they should buy from you.