LDC healthcare dinner underlines opportunities for growth

This week LDC hosted a dinner for healthcare sector business leaders, with former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sir Sajid Javid as the guest speaker. Here, Partner Aziz Ul-Haq looks at the key themes covered on the night and some of the strategies the management teams in attendance are using to grow their businesses.

On Wednesday, we brought together leaders from some of the country’s most exciting and fast-growing healthcare businesses for a sector dinner in London, along with investors from our regional teams at LDC. It was a great evening, with the chance to network and discuss opportunities and challenges business leaders in the sector are facing.

The evening included a Q&A with Sir Sajid Javid, who led the Department for Health and Social Care as we emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022. I facilitated the session, taking a series of wide-ranging, thoughtful questions from our guests.

Sir Javid discussed his background and career-to-date and the differences between what makes a good leader in the public and private sectors. He then talked about his experiences shaping healthcare policy at such an important time for the UK, and his outlook for the future of the industry.

What really struck me was how clearly Sir Javid’s remarks built on the topics management teams had discussed over dinner. Our guests represented businesses from across the sector, from healthcare and pharmaceutical services to medical technology and device manufacturing, but the issues raised on the night resonated with each of them and their unique positions in the global healthcare ecosystem.

One of the biggest themes discussed was the growing importance of delivering more healthcare services in the community, with the challenge of an ageing population and a need to prioritise preventative care. During the pandemic demand for at-home testing grew rapidly and now companies at the heart of this growing segment of the industry are well positioned to help relieve pressure on hospitals and GPs.

Many of those that attended are the forefront of this trend, including RDi, a specialist data and fulfilment business that developed the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme with the NHS. We invested in RDi in 2021 to help the management team to grow its services, and last year the business made two acquisitions to significantly broaden its portfolio of healthcare kitting and component capabilities.

Another theme covered over dinner was the role new technologies and greater digitisation must play in increasing the efficiency and capacity of every part of the healthcare system. Medray, a healthcare and service provider we invested in earlier this year, is a business that’s leading the charge here. It specialises in diagnostic imaging equipment, and with our support is pursuing a growth strategy underpinned by acquisitions and expansion of its products and services.

We’ve invested more than £350m in medium-sized healthcare businesses since 2013. On average, the companies we support increase revenue by 149% during the course of our partnerships. With this in mind, it was also great to discuss the benefits of private equity investment with more management teams and introduce them to those across our current portfolio that are seeing that benefit first-hand.

Spending time with management teams always confirms in my mind the ambition and spirit of innovation that makes our healthcare world leading. Thanks again to everyone who came along, and to Sir Sajid for sharing his story and perspectives on what’s next for the sector.