Reid aims for growth at BioCity
Toby Reid, the Nottingham-based entrepreneur and former operations manager at Growth Investment East Midlands, has been appointed director of BioCity. Reid told Insider he wants BioCity to spearhead the "growth of the local and national economy" in the future.
In his new role, Reid will be responsible for the development of the successful bioscience business incubator. He will take charge of the day-to-day running of the business which supports life science firms to turn ideas into commercial ventures.
Reid began his working life as chartered civil engineer with construction management experience, and has grown several successful businesses since, including Heath Reid, Morland Brook Investment Promotions and Inafishbowl.com. He also managed Growth Investment Network East Midlands (GINEM) – the organisation that helped businesses access early stage finance.
Reid said: "I’m delighted to be joining this successful business which is the leading light in the UK in business incubation and growth. I believe, over the coming years, that sector focused incubator businesses like BioCity have an instrumental role to play in creating growth in the local and national economies. The opportunity to be a part of that is very exciting."
Reid's position is newly created. BioCity said it will allow chief executive Dr Glenn Crocker to "focus on long-term strategic planning and new developments, especially as the demand for BioCity expertise from the sector increases".
Crocker said: "I'm obviously delighted with BioCity’s success to date, but we’ve only really just started. The recruitment of high quality people like Toby is crucial to our next stage of development. He brings new ideas and ways of doing things that will only add to the success of companies based at BioCity."
Reid leaves GINEM with its future funding in doubt after the demise of the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) – its main sponsor.
In March he told Insider he believed the survival of the organisation was vital as funding becomes ever more important to growth of East Midlands businesses.
"It's an incredibly important organisation," he said. "Part of our role is to arrange equity finance and help businesses work out what funding options are available to them – businesses really need that support."
BioCity has been established since 2003. More than 700 people in 75 companies are based at the Pennyfoot Street site.
