Business booms for Welsh healthcare firm during pandemic

Revenue for Welsh healthcare firm Forth has doubled during 2020, despite the many challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through an innovative at-home blood test kit, Forth enables customers to stay healthy and active by unlocking valuable insights into their health. As the world searches for ways to maintain good health and strengthen the natural immune system, Forth has come out on top as a much needed solution.

Not only was Forth the first UK company to market with COVID-19 antibody testing kits, but it also achieved a record number of sales in 2020, with the topline growing month on month and January 2021 being the biggest sales month to date. Additionally, Forth has secured a grant from SMART Cymru to develop a ground-breaking female health product, agreed a partnership with Superdrug, and achieved ISO accreditation.

Forth’s total revenue for 2020 increased by 100 per cent on the previous year. This additional revenue, coupled with the increased demand, has allowed Forth to create a third more jobs at their Chepstow HQ than there were at the beginning of 2020. It is apparent that people are investing more energy and money into their health as Forth’s average order spend increased by 30 per cent in 2020 on the previous year.

The grant awarded by SMART Cymru to Forth is an innovation grant to enable and support the development of a unique female health product. Forth hopes that this new female health product will reduce healthcare inequality for women.

Forth’s partnership with Superdrug comes after demand for home nurse appointments soared amidst resource pressure from the pandemic. The result was a new partnership allowing customers to book blood test draws at 60+ in store clinics throughout the UK. The Superdrug clinic appointments, costing £30 per appointment, allow customers to continue using Forth’s healthcare service at a time when they need it most, in a convenient and quick way. Home nurse appointments remain available, costing £55 per appointment.

The latest of Forth’s achievements is the ISO13485 accreditation. This certification demonstrates the company’s quality in the delivery of its service and its commitment to safety, as the accreditation is only awarded to businesses that provide consistent design, development, production, installation, delivery and disposal of medical devices that are safe for the intended purpose.

Sarah Bolt, Forth CEO and Founder, commented: “Although we are not quite free of the challenges of COVID-19, I’m really excited for the year ahead and hope it will bring even more success than the past year has. We’ve got a great new, innovative female health product in the pipeline which will really help to empower women when it comes to taking control of their health. Female health is a very underinvested area, with many women going undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years due to the inequality within healthcare provision and research. As a female led business, I’m proud to be supporting women’s health with our new product.”

Sarah, who won Health and Wellbeing Entrepreneur of the Year for Wales at this year’s Great British Entrepreneur Awards, continued: “The past year has been tough on all of us, but through the tenacity of the team here at Forth, we’ve managed to finish the year in a better position than where we started. It’s only upwards and onwards for 2021.”

Forth’s at-home blood test service is proven to support people become healthier and be their personal best. Over the past year, 58 per cent of customers improved their Vitamin D levels, 45 per cent lowered their risk of Cardiovascular disease and 52 per cent lowered their risk of type 2 Diabetes. Forth predicts enormous growth in the industry as digital health is predicted to grow by 28.5 per cent for the next 5 years.