Growing Pains: 2San Creating New Healthcare Solutions

We are headquartered in London and are passionate about buildings, businesses, and the brains behind them. This is the next instalment of our series Growing Pains, where we meet the CEOs and founders of London’s cutting edge startups and scale-ups.

In this edition, we spoke to 2San, a global healthcare provider born out of the pandemic. 2San believe the world of healthcare is ripe for change, and are making steps to lead their market into a more efficient and sustainable future.

We sat down with Amelia Nicholls, the Global Operations Director at 2San. Amelia works globally - covering the UK, Europe, US and APAC. Prior to this, Amelia was a Director within Testing Operations at NHS Test and Trace, supporting the UK through the Covid pandemic.

What Inspired You To Start 2San?

We wanted an offering in the Healthcare & Diagnostics market that enabled products to be accessible to all as well as affordable, sustainable and high quality. We saw an opportunity for innovation and more efficient ways of working in this category, which inspired us to do something.

Can You Tell Us About the 2San Journey So Far?

2San was started during the Covid pandemic by a group of families who were reacting to Covid-related demand and wanted to help innovate and advance the healthcare industry. They also wanted to protect their existing businesses that had been impacted by the pandemic, and brought their combined expertise together to form 2San.

The agility and customer service that 2San offers, as well as the speed to market, meant 2San grew very quickly and soon became powerful enough to run as an established business post Covid.

What Are Some of the Biggest Challenges You’ve Faced, and How Did You Overcome Them?

As you can imagine, working in the field of medical devices brings all sorts of challenges, such as issues with regulations and operations.

2San’s experience within the management team, as well as the small and agile nature of how the business is run, means we have been able to be proactive and overcome challenges quickly to satisfy customer demand.

What Has Been 2San’s Biggest Success So Far?

The success we have had in servicing large government contracts as well as being a distributor to some of the largest names in retail shows how a small and relatively new company can succeed. The key to this has been strong rigour and an appetite to react quicker than our competitors to the ever-changing marketplace.

What Makes 2San Different From the Other Health Tech Businesses Out There?

The fact we remain a small but agile business. We are constantly looking for new and innovative products that fit with our ethos of ‘Better Care; Better Life;.

How Has Working Life Changed Post-Pandemic?

Like all companies, we are having to re-adapt to post pandemic working patterns with not all employees being office-based. Communication is key — we have staff across APAC, UK, EU and US and so are used to being able to work effectively across time zones.

How Has Your Office Space Become a Core Part of Your Business?

It’s really important for us that the environment in which we work reflects the values of the company, supports employee wellness and reinforces our social value ethos. The office has become much more than a desk to work at. We have products for trials and are always inviting customers in to see us face-to-face or to give product demonstrations. Post pandemic, our staff are enjoying working face to face again and it certainly makes the day more productive working with others in person.

What Three Pieces of Advice Would You Give to Other Leaders?

1. Communication is key: to staff, customers, suppliers — be open and honest and face-to-face where possible. Empathy is my most important value.
2. Perseverance: in the post pandemic world, things can be tough and do not operate in the way they did previously. But, if you believe in what you are doing, keep at it!
3. Agility: have the courage to adapt and change. Customer demand in this market changes so quickly — try and always be one step ahead.

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