The best medicine: How APC and VLE Therapeutics found ways to grow with Leadership 4 Growth

From a stronger leadership team to a new suite of digital products, APC and VLE Therapeutics have transformed over the past decade. According to Mark Barrett, the pharma group’s co-founder and CEO, Enterprise Ireland’s Leadership 4 Growth was pivotal to this metamorphosis. 

APC and VLE Therapeutics are Irish multinational pharmaceutical businesses aiming to accelerate the development and manufacture of medicines. 

Around 80% export-driven, the group partners with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. 
Founded in 2011, APC and VLE Therapeutics have grown rapidly in the past decade. The group has more than €100 million in assets and annual sales of over €50 million.

To keep pace with the burgeoning businesses, co-founder and CEO Mark Barrett enrolled on Enterprise Ireland’s Leadership 4 Growth programme. 

“I wanted to develop the team and myself to take the business to the next level,” he says. “I also met several Leadership 4 Growth alumni with nothing but good things to say about the course. As it turned out, the course was a seminal moment in my career.”

The course that keeps on giving

According to Mark, Leadership 4 Growth is more than just the 12-month course to which he signed up – he’s still reaping the benefits years after completing the programme.
 

“Leadership 4 Growth is about committing to a multi-year journey,” Mark says. “We have put related things into place four or five years after it.
 

“As you grow over time, you create space in your organisation to take on and apply what you’ve learned on Leadership 4 Growth.”

Mark says the programme also helped him build momentum on the group’s growth strategy.

“One highlight from the programme was keeping the rhythm of the work on our strategic growth plan, and the associated scaling challenges and deliverables,” he says. “Now there’s rhythm in the business focused on the growth and implementation of our strategy.” 

Driving lasting change

Mark found his peer learning group throughout the course especially supportive and beneficial. 

“When you boil it down, the challenges we face in business are cross-sectoral,” he says. “Being in an environment where you can confidentially share some of the things you’re going through is a real game changer.”

The strategic growth plan he wrote at the end of the programme was, and still is, a useful tool to help define the business objectives and drive growth.

“It allowed me to restructure and change my leadership team,” he says. “It also helped me communicate the overall plan to the business. It was a starting point that we’ve matured over the years.”

Putting people first

Mark says there have been huge internal team changes since Leadership 4 Growth. 

“We’ve extended the leadership team from three or four to 13,” says Mark. “We’ve also brought in middle management layers to improve the experience across the entire organisation when we deliver our strategy.”

Moreover, everyone at all levels is encouraged to develop their skills and grow with the business, with colleagues following Mark onto Leadership 4 Growth. This has helped align the leadership approach across the organisation.

“We have a growth plan, a playbook, and our key workstreams,” says Mark. “Before Leadership 4 Growth, I never fully understood how much focus you need to put on strategy.”
 

Finding lightbulb moments

The programme’s digitalisation module led to a business epiphany for Mark. 

“As a result of a lightbulb moment I had during the programme around the digitalisation of our value chain, we developed a suite of digital products. That changed the strategic trajectory and revenue in the business.” 

Throughout the course, participants are mentored by Leadership 4 Growth business coaches and receive feedback through the 360 review method – feedback from their peers and coaches. 

“Getting feedback regarding allocating and encouraging responsibility was really empowering,” he says. “I got some great tips to help me grow. It’s the most valuable feedback you’ll probably get in a business capacity, so grab it and do something with it.” 

Following the course, Mark says he was able to step back and delegate more, which he found extremely liberating. 
 

“One of my strengths is my capacity to take on a lot, but that limits your scalability and sustainability,” he says. “A big learning for me was to grow our advisory board, leadership team, business processes and growth mindset. 
“Now I spend as much time, if not more, focusing on that compared to how business is delivered. It’s a load off me and I enjoy seeing how people grow the business.”
 

A personal and professional step change

While the businesses have clearly transformed since Leadership 4 Growth, Mark says the programme has also changed his personal outlook.

“It’s less about how much I can take on and more about the team, their ideas and what they can take on,” he says. “Leadership 4 Growth gave me the confidence to spread my wings and not be so reliant on my own capacity or capability.”

Years after completing the programme, Mark is still in touch with people he met on the course, from coaches to participants. 

“The network is highly connected,” he says. “It’s a great opportunity for CEOs to grow their networks. It’s an exceptional programme and was a real step change for myself and the business.”

Learn more about how Irish CEOs are finding ways to innovate and grow their businesses with Enterprise Ireland’s Leadership 4 Growth.

Mark Barrett was in conversation with Lorraine Reid, executive coach with Leadership 4 Growth.