Harley Medic International was founded to provide specialist medical testing, originally aimed at corporate offshore operations such as oil and military companies. This then progressed into a more open platform, aiming to provide affordable, convenient and accessible medical testing to the general public. This has become extremely relevant with the spread of COVID-19, as regular medical testing has become a part of everyday life in a bid to stop the spread of the novel virus.
How Did You Come Up With The Idea For The Company?
The progression of Harley Medic from a corporate to a consumer-focused business came about gradually in the last couple of years and was accelerated by the pandemic.
This change was put in place as a response to the growing demand we faced for B2C services, we constantly had clients requesting medical checks and testing because they could not get appointments via the NHS. Long wait times, limited flexibility and layers of bureaucracy can make simple check-ups very arduous. On the other hand, private medical testing can be too expensive for the average person.
That’s why we created the newest section of Harley Medic International to provide a service that was both fast, tailored and affordable. This has become extremely popular, with many clients using our services for all sorts of tests, COVID, travel and health-related.
How Has The Company Evolved During The Pandemic?
As soon as the first major reports of the novel coronavirus came out on media outlets, we started looking into how we could help the UK deal with the virus. We noticed that finding reliable testing solutions were hard to come by and ensured that we could do our part to help out with the UK’s effort at tackling the pandemic from all angles.
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The gold standard for testing is an RT-PCR Test and we used this from the outset to provide testing for the new virus. Demand quickly picked up for testing, as not many companies knew how to/ were offering the service in a suitable capacity. Originally, we started by offering the PCR tests in London. This led to us expanding our clinics very quickly to keep up with UK’s need for testing, we now have over 50 centres across England, Wales and Scotland.
As a medical company, it is our responsibility to adapt to the changing nature of the industry and provide for the public as much as possible. We embraced this during the pandemic and that is why we have cemented ourselves as leading providers for RT-PCR testing, especially fit to fly covid tests.
What Advice Would You Give To Other Aspiring Entrepreneurs?
Advice should be specific and depends on the individual and the situation. As a rule of thumb, to be a good entrepreneur you need to be able to notice trends and then take immediate action based on your observations. The surest way to fail as an entrepreneur is to not start in the first place.
What Can We Hope To See From Harley Medic International In The Future?
Harley Medic has some extremely exciting projects in the pipeline, but I won’t be able to give away too much information. Broadly we will be offering the UK’s fastest and most affordable genetic and private blood testing, but with the ease and simplicity of ordering through a Deliveroo type system. This will enable people to take control of their health, using unprecedented access to their biomarkers, to make informed decisions about their health, based on what exactly their body is telling them.
