Team Scotland approach helps RoslinCT grow their business
RoslinCT, a global leading cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organisation based in Edinburgh, UK and Boston, US, realised that they required support to help them achieve their ambitious growth plans.
With support from Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Enterprise (SE) as part of the Team Scotland approach, the company has been able to grow their business by investing in upskilling their people and attracting new talent.
The Scottish Government’s Inward Investment Plan outlines a collective ambition for Scotland as a leading destination for inward investment, and the results from the 2022 EY Annual Attractiveness Survey shows that Scotland leads the UK in attracting foreign direct investment. This underlines the importance of inward investment in supporting the ambitions set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.
RoslinCT has been account managed by (SE) since 2015. During this time they have received funding to support people development in the form of leadership diagnostic reviews, HR consultancy support as well as participating in various workplace innovation programmes and workshops.
SE also provided support to help establish RoslinCT’s Training Academy, which forms part of the UK Advanced Therapies Skills Training Network and has benefited the company and the wider sector.
In 2020, RoslinCT went through Skills for Growth, a fully-funded service from Skills Development Scotland for businesses with fewer than 250 employees which helps them identify their skills needs.
This acted as a catalyst for identifying recommendations which included the creation of a new people strategy, to help the leadership and management team deal with challenges associated with rapid growth, including communications and personal development across the workforce.
The Team Scotland approach allowed RoslinCT to accelerate their plans by developing and implementing a bespoke training programme aimed at improving the capabilities of their leadership team across the business. The programme helped the team embed their learning and achieve long term, sustainable improvements by investing in people development and coaching skills. As RoslinCT began to grow, they were also able to access funding to help them accelerate their training, supporting their people strategy and their business plans.
They have now grown their workforce in Edinburgh from 28 to over 120 in 2020 and now to around 220 at the end of 2022.
Callum Watson, Head of People at RoslinCT, UK said: “Team Scotland have been incredibly supportive throughout our growth journey and have been instrumental in helping us to ensure we are able to meet our ambitious plans for expansion and growth.
"The team have been with us, providing guidance and support whenever we’ve needed it.“
"They have supported us in the creation of our People Strategy which provided a roadmap to ensuring RoslinCT was able to meet its goals from a people perspective and that our workplace is the best possible place to work.”
Vicki MacLean, Growth and Inward Investment Manager with Skills Development Scotland said: “RoslinCT recognises the importance of investing in their existing workforce, enhancing their exceptional skills and increasing capability across their workforce to achieve their growth ambitions.
“SDS, as part of our Team Scotland approach, has worked with key partners to help RoslinCT identify their skills needs and build a talented team. We are committed to ongoing skills and training support to help them continue to grow in the future.”
Richie Connor, Account Manager for RoslinCT at Scottish Enterprise said: “Team Scotland has had a successful, long-standing relationship with RoslinCT and continues to support them with their growth plans. Investing in their people is one of RoslinCT’s key priorities and we are delighted to have been able to support them with this over the last few years as part of Team Scotland.”
SDS and SE meet with RoslinCT regularly to continue to support their skills, education and training requirements, providing continued support for their growth plans and maximise their growth potential.