Occuity is thrilled to be celebrating the expansion to a larger office space in The Blade, Reading's landmark office space, which has been initiated by the growth of our team and the progress we have made in the development of our optical technology over the last year that has meant we needed more room.
Occuity has been headquartered in The Blade since its founding 2019, so it's great to be able to grow whilst still staying in the building with the move up to the fifth floor. At 4,370 sq ft, the new suite offers us both office and lab space enabling our teams to work more collaboratively.
With over 35 staff and more joining each month, we have also found The Blade beneficial from a recruitment perspective - it’s easy for interviewees to get to and find (we say "look up and you can't miss it") and its iconic presence is a source of pride for the team.
Our founding Directors originally occupied the shared space at The Blade in Pure Offices, using one room as a dedicated lab space and the other for office work. As the team’s research and development picked up pace, the lab needed to expand, and new hires in operations and marketing (me!) required space away from electronic life testing rigs, which operated 24/7 for a number of months.
There were many reasons to expand to bigger office space; however, the move was facilitated by our successful crowdfunding round in 2021. We raised over £2.85m, and in so doing became the largest ever MedTech raise on the UK's leading crowdfunding platform, Seedrs. The investment round enabled us to accelerate the development of our products primarily by recruiting key personnel across the business, from engineering to regulatory, sales, marketing and HR. And so naturally we need more space to provide a home to all the new people and equipment.
Our CEO Dan Daly, commented on the move saying:
“We were impressed with The Blade from the outset, given that it offered both dedicated lab and office space, the flexibility to scale up quickly, and a fully managed service which allowed our team to focus on the growth of the business."
Dan continued:
"The Blade is such an iconic building, and we love that it offers us great working spaces and such a light and airy environment. Like many businesses, we’ve embraced flexible working – in fact, our Dr Robin Taylor, our CTO, still does some of his best, most experimental work in his converted garage – but now, with the added benefit of having the space to get our team together more easily.”
Nick Turner, Asset Manager at The Blade, added:
“We are delighted that Occuity has enjoyed such success at The Blade – and has continued to choose us when expanding their office space. It’s been really exciting to see the company grow so successfully, and we’re proud to have been able to support their journey and play a part in their future plans.”
I asked Dan and Robin a few questions about why the company decided to move:
Q. Why did you remain at The Blade?
A. When looking for more space, we of course did our due diligence, by looking at all the options open to us such as moving locally or even regionally. However, nothing else quite matched what The Blade, and probably more importantly, the management team at The Blade, have offered us. We took a look at Floor 5 in the building and quickly saw that it was a great option. At 4,370 sq ft, it gives us the space we need now and in the medium term. It will allow our teams to work more collaboratively than in the separate smaller rooms that shared work spaces offered. The team (at the Blade) have been really helpful and very flexible to meet our needs. They have obviously recognised the potential Occuity has to become a valuable long term client. For that we are very grateful.
Q. Are you doing any work to fit out/personalise the new space? Perhaps anything standout/staff wellbeing areas etc?
It’s exciting moving into a new office and we certainly have plans to personalise the new space, but at the moment, we are very focused on the main goals for the business, getting our first product to market (the world’s only non-contact, handheld, pachymeter – The PM1!) and advancing the research and development of our pipeline of future products including a non-invasive glucose meter.
We appreciate the importance of giving our teams a space where they enjoy being and where they have what they need to do their jobs without unplanned distractions or frustrations. We’ve discussed, imagery, artworks, bean bags, sleeping pods, Friday Treats and a lot more. Some of these may come in time, but the great thing is, we all agree that making the business a success is what we need to concentrate on at this moment. So our short term plans are to make sure our lab spaces are optimised and ready.
Q. What are the benefits of being at The Blade?
The Blade is an iconic building in Reading! It’s pretty cool. Aside from this it’s got lots of benefits. It offers great office spaces that provide a light and airy environment. The location is great too. Many of our team cycle to work or get the train, so being close to the station is a plus and having secure bike storage facilities and showers is a bonus too.
To discover our innovative product pipeline and to learn more about our mission and values check out our website.