Dr Neil Fish joined Boyds in November 2021 as Vice President of Business Development, and has subsequently established the business development function, bringing in the required skills and best practise to support the development of new opportunities for Boyds. In his blog, Neil reflects on his first six months.
My first six months at Boyds has been an exciting ride. If I reflect on where I was a year ago, I was actually a client of Boyds and was also considering taking early retirement. However, following a conversation with Alan Boyd who told me about the five-year growth plan for the business and the need for Boyds to have a permanent and dedicated business development specialist to help drive the growth of the business, I found myself considering my options and next steps. One thing led to another and I joined Boyds in November 2021. It is fair to say that the future of Boyds is so exciting that my retirement has been put off indefinitely!
When I joined the Boyds, it was clear that there was already really great work going on and the number of clients was steadily increasing. Boyds had built an enviable reputation as a product development consultancy specialising in supporting the development of cutting-edge technologies and medicinal products. After sixteen years of impressive growth, Boyds embarked on the next stage of its plans and last year set out its five-year business plan. The plans are ambitious with the number of clients expected to more than double in the next five years. This will primarily be driven by the growth of the business in the USA, following the opening of its first US office in Philadelphia last year.
I spent the first couple of months putting in place some systems to support the company’s future growth and getting to know our clients’ needs. One of Boyds’ strengths is its expertise in cell and gene therapy. I am constantly amazed by what Boyds’ clients are trying to achieve, a great many of whom are trying to develop cures for cancer and it is an absolutely privilege for the Boyds’ team to support them in doing this. It’s areas such as this, and the work Boyds has done on the Covid-19 vaccines, where you can see how Boyds is having a direct impact on medicine and human health.
Since the start of 2022, I have been very busy contacting new potential clients and also supporting Boyds’ existing clients with any new work they need from our team. It has been very satisfying to see how effectively the Boyds team work seamlessly with its clients. We have very high rates of repeat business and company referrals which for a BD professional is an absolute dream, this is the sort of advertising that money cannot buy. It’s also exciting to see how the business has been growing in the US and we have attracted a steady stream of new US clients over the past 12 months. We are also permanently recruiting new consultants to meet the demands for Boyds’ expertise and to drive the business on.
So, what about the next 6 months? Well, I keep wondering if I am going to have a boring day when not much happens. It’s not happened yet and I cannot see it happening any time soon. I really enjoy seeing the excitement within the Boyds’ team as we help our clients reach their milestones. I also really enjoy getting contacts from potential new clients and seeing what amazing technology and ideas they are trying to develop. For Boyds, I see nothing but our journey continuing upwards at a dizzying rate and that will give me the opportunity to do what I do best, and support the company’s development and growth.
