The Blade Supports Occuity Expansion

Business Growth Prompts Move to Fifth Floor of Landmark Office Space in Reading

The Blade Reading is celebrating with medical equipment manufacturer Occuity, following the company’s expansion in the landmark office space. Occuity, which has occupied space at The Blade since setting up in 2019, initiated the expansion following its successful growth.

The move to larger office space, which was completed in April 2022, has seen the company move to occupy the fifth floor of The Blade. At 4,370 sq ft, the new suite offers the Occuity team both office and lab space enabling them to work more collaboratively. With over 30 staff now in employed, and more joining each month, Occuity has also found The Blade beneficial from a recruitment perspective - it’s easy for interviewees to find, and its iconic presence is a source of pride for the team.

Occuity’s founding Directors originally occupied shared space at The Blade in Pure Offices, using one room as a dedicated lab space and the other for office work. As the team’s research and development picked up pace, the lab needed to expand and new hires in operations and marketing required space away from electronic life testing rigs, which operated 24/7. After a successful crowdfunding round in 2021 Occuity raised over £2.85m; the largest ever MedTech raise on the UKs leading crowdfunding platform. This created the opportunity for significant product development and a growth period during the pandemic, triggering the recent move.

Nick Turner, Asset Manager at The Blade, comments: “We are delighted that Occuity has enjoyed such success at The Blade – and has continued to choose us when expanding their office space. It’s been really exciting to see the company grow so successfully, and we’re proud to have been able to support their journey and play a part in their future plans.”

Dr Dan Daly, CEO at Occuity adds: “We were impressed with The Blade from the outset, given that it offered both dedicated lab and office space, the flexibility to scale up quickly, and a fully managed service which allowed our team to focus on the growth of the business. The Blade is such an iconic building, and we love that it offers us great working spaces and such a light and airy environment. Our staff enjoy the central location, which allows them to cycle and store their bikes safely or take the train, and it’s important that we offer our team space which ensures they are comfortable, happy and have all the tools and equipment they need. Like many businesses we’ve embraced flexible working – in fact our Dr Robin Taylor, our CTO, still does some of his best, most experimental work in his converted garage – but now with the added benefit of having the space to get our team together more easily.”