Developing a business plan for a new biotech company in Manchester

In 2019, Steer Economic Development was responsible for writing the five-case business case which secured successfully £25 million of public money to stimulate the creation of a new centre of precision medicine expertise in Manchester. The project, supported by QIAGEN GmbH, Manchester City Council, and Health Innovation Manchester resulted in the formation of a new company, Apis Assay Technologies Ltd., to act as the nucleus for this new initiative.

Following Steer Economic Development’s non-competitive appointment in 2019 to write the new company's first-year business plan, we were again appointed noncompetitively in early 2020 to draft the firm's business plan for FY 2020/2021. Addressing the company’s business boundaries, marketplace, financial needs, marketing mix, risk management profile, and milestones/metrics, the plan set out a coherent and comprehensive statement of forward progress. It also set out, in headline terms, the firm's plans for affiliations as it sought to quickly scale its activities.

The plan was subsequently approved by the firm's Management and Executive Boards and is now in implementation.