Medovate appoints Frank Collins as chair

Medovate – a manufacturer of medical technologies created from within the NHS and part of Mercia Venture’s portfolio of companies – has appointed Frank Collins O.B.E as the company’s new chair with effect from December 2022.

Collins has a vast amount of experience in the field of healthcare and medical devices. He recently completed a seven-year term as chair of The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt NHS Trust, one of Europe's leading specialist orthopaedic hospitals. Collins has also held the roles of CEO and chair of Private Equity backed global healthcare and medical device companies. He has also worked as a non-executive chair for private equity investment funds active in a variety of internationally focused life sciences and medtech businesses. He is currently chair of The Vernacare Group and Bracebridge Corporate Finance.

In Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours 2022 Frank was awarded Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to healthcare and the NHS.

Stuart Thomson managing director of Medovate, said: “Frank comes with a wealth of medtech, commercial and NHS experience. Frank has been a board advisor to Medovate over recent months and I am delighted he is joining the company as chair. The entire team look forward to working with him as we enter our exciting next phase of growth.”

Peter Dines, chief operating officer of Mercia and managing director of National Venture Funds added: “This is a key appointment for Medovate with Frank bringing strong leadership experience as both a CEO and chair of global medical device businesses to the table. Typically lending his weight to PE-backed later-stage businesses, this move for Frank demonstrates just how exciting Medovate’s business model is and its potential to disrupt and capture significant market share of the UK’s Medtech sector.”

Speaking about his appointment, Collins commented: “I am both proud and delighted to have been invited by the investors and the Board to assume the role of chair of Medovate. In my time working with Stuart and other members of the senior team I have seen first-hand the great work which the company does in transforming great ideas into commercial reality to the benefit of patients and clinicians around the world. I am looking forward to helping the company achieve great success in the future.”

Medovate was spun out of the NHS in 2017 to provide a dedicated development and commercialisation vehicle for clinician-inspired medical device innovations. Through its business model, the NHS is a stakeholder in the company. Medovate can work closely with NHS based clinicians to identify, develop and bring to market new medical devices.