Inside the Deal: Marc Schmid, Redmoor Health

Palatine recently announced its significant investment in rapidly growing digital healthcare services partner, Redmoor Health. Being the final portfolio company to join Palatine’s first Impact Fund, it underlines the firm’s commitment to impact investing by commercially-driven businesses with a mission to positively impact on society or the environment.

Here, Marc Schmid, CEO of Redmoor Health talks about his own journey and what brought him and his wife, Alison Schmid, to launch the company, what’s next for the business, and its plans to “put rocket fuel into the NHS to take it to the next level”.

He explains: “Redmoor Health was born, and grown, following the whole team’s first-hand experiences working in the NHS and our drive to relieve some of the pressure on those working there now. We know it can be hard to find the time to bring new technology into health and social care. That’s where we can help.”

Having worked closely with both the NHS and local government, particularly in his role of Head of Communications for Blackburn and Darwin Borough Council NHS Care Trust, Marc’s own experiences led him to launch Redmoor Health and become a trusted partner of the NHS.

“Even before the pandemic, the NHS has been struggling to meet the demand. Whether it is the need to reduce waiting times, improve access to primary care or treat people more effectively at home, we aim to work with Trusts to implement technology and streamline their services.

“Whether it is by training and helping them to use and embed technology, showing the great work they are doing, or helping employees to learn from experiences we have been part of elsewhere. We provide communications, strategic support and front-line coaching for as long as the team needs us.”

 

Given the complex and intense nature of the NHS, how has Redmoor Health been able to establish itself as the trusted partner of choice for Trusts nationwide?

Marc explains that in a complex sector, Redmoor Health has emerged as a trusted partner due to its secret ingredient; its people and culture.

“All the members of the team have either worked in the NHS within the last 12 months, have family members or friends that work in practice, or even do still themselves. Our motivation is to make a difference for those people – our colleagues, family, friends and ourselves. It is key that we protect our culture and make it clear, our primary mission is not to accelerate our own growth journey, but to widen the impact we can have on the NHS and the people who work within it.

“Given our close ties to the NHS, we have the ability to understand the day-to-day challenges facing its staff; staff burnout, waiting times, outdated technology, to name a few.

“Being a North West-based company, I often reflect and am proud of the success of the team, as we continue to punch well above our weight. We are redesigning complex GP practices situated in deprived areas of London that require a high-quality external partner. It speaks volumes that these practices are choosing to use our services, rather than a closer, London-based company. As we continue to grow our repertoire of projects completed, we can begin replicating these in other locations with similar demographics. This allows our prospective clients the opportunity to make informed decisions, showing them a blueprint for proven success.

“Palatine understands our people have been instrumental to our success and the culture is non-negotiable when it comes to future growth. Palatine has the expertise and capabilities to implement the more sophisticated infrastructure required to supercharge our potential, while respecting our family-run businesses culture, enabling us to take on bigger, more impactful, complex schemes.”

 

What role did the pandemic play in Redmoor Health’s growth strategy?

“Pre-pandemic, the NHS was suffering from the same challenges it faces today. However, the scale of these challenges has increased tenfold. As these issues have taken more of a toll on the NHS and its workforce, the need for technology and the ways it can help streamline processes, have become a top priority. Which, in turn, has accelerated our own growth journey.

“Since our inception in 2017, we have proved the value of technology to the NHS when facing these challenges. One project in 2019 saw breast cancer screening services increased by 12.9%, following an initial pilot using Facebook as a promotional tool.

“Initially, Redmoor Health set out for steady growth, aiming for 20% revenue growth in FY22, instead, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent drive to digitise, we grew by over 70%, and our workforce grew from 10 to 23 people in the same financial period. Despite us never intending to drum up interest in investment, over 13 private equity houses reached out to us.

“Over the coming months, we got to know Beth Houghton and Greg Holmes of Palatine, as we learnt more about the Impact Fund. Our USP has always been that we are a trusted partner of the NHS and, when it became apparent that those same principles are what sits at the Impact Fund’s core, the synergy between the two organisations soon became clear.

“In addition, Palatine knows the sector and the challenges it faces. Having worked with the NHS previously, the firm understands the complexities of it and what was required to put rocket fuel into the NHS to take it to the next level. Now, with Palatine’s significant investment, we are looking to continue our growth trajectory and are increasing our headcount over the next 18 months to ensure we continue to be the partner of choice for the NHS.”

 

So, what does the future hold for Redmoor Health?

“There is currently a lot of transformational change happening within the health and social care sectors. However, many practices do not have the time or resources to effectively implement the improvements required. This is where we can come in.

“Beyond the previously mentioned challenges the NHS is facing, becoming Net Zero is fast becoming a top priority for many consultancies. Like many, we are not experts in carbon reduction and are not currently best equipped to advise on the best practice. This is where Palatine and its Impact Fund comes in.

“As well as having access to the firm’s resource and expertise, another benefit of joining Palatine’s Impact Fund, is being welcomed into the fund’s portfolio community. Amongst a raft of mutually aligned companies, all sharing a similar ethos, Palatine also has made an investment in global-sustainability specialist Anthesis, which develops financially driven sustainability strategies, underpinned by technical expertise. Anthesis have become experts in advising companies on best practice when it comes to carbon reduction, giving us the resource to advise our own clients.

“As a company, we are always open to working with other experts, outside of our space, to learn and improve our offering to clients. This is only the beginning of our partnership with Anthesis, as we look to help the NHS become Net Zero, together.”