How we've been supporting our members

Caroline Kewney, Senior Business Engagement Manager, IBioIC

IBioIC’s Senior Business Engagement Manager, Caroline Kewney, reflects on a busy quarter supporting members new and old.

We are delighted that after bringing 11 new industry members on board in 2020, we have already welcomed another 25 new companies as members so far in 2021, giving us a total of 127 members.  Our membership comprises of a mix of micro, SME, and large organisations, with micro/SMEs comprising over 75% of the membership. 

Within this, we cover a broad range of sectors; renewables, biopharma, chemicals, engineering, and Food & Drink, and include marine, forestry and agriculture within our industries.  We also help build supply chains with a range of equipment and service providers within the network, as well as government and funding bodies, social enterprises and charities.  It is important to think about all the stages involved from an initial idea to actually manufacturing a product and our experience at each stages in the supply chain can support industry members on that journey.

Various member companies have been featured in a number of press and media articles over the quarter, which you can read in our IBioIC in the News section.  Our new membership model has been well received, with companies benefitting from unlimited opportunities PhD studentships and projects at various stages of development alongside all of the networking and collaborative advantages that membership brings. Members have also benefitted from our skills programme with MSc and PhD student placements and projects, giving companies the opportunity to run projects or carry out research that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, and yet others have been supported in their innovation journey by our Scale Up centres staff and project funding.

The team have recently begun a return to attending in-person events, raising the profile of industrial biotechnology, highlighting the work of specific member companies, and talking about our big picture ambitions for IB in Scotland, across the UK, and globally.

We are excited to continue existing collaborations and facilitate new introductions over the coming months and further expand our network.

If you’re interested in finding out more about any of the work we do to support members, or to enquire about joining IBioIC, you can reach me at caroline.kewney@ibioic.com, or visit our Membership page.