From Newham to Dubai

MJ MEDICAL has planned and designed healthcare facilities from Cambridge to Jersey, Calgary to Dubai. The consultancy advises projects from day one on the crucial elements of good design, functionality and, last but not least, patient experience. Its CV includes everything from UK GP surgeries – including the award-winning Cober Valley Health in Helston - to pioneering hospitals in global cities and rural care clinics in some of the world’s most inhospitable environments.

 

That it manages all of this from Newham Industrial Estate might surprise you. Its premises on Heron Way are part of MJ Medical’s fascinating history, which began with husband-and-wife team Brian Hobbs and Cathryn Dart in London in the late 1970s and now has 400 projects across 75 countries.

 

The company was born out of Brian’s role as a theatre operating assistant at St Thomas Hospital, which included leading guided tours of executives, mostly from the Middle East, who were building hospitals and were seeking a deeper understanding of how operating theatres functioned.

 

Attendees had lots of questions: “The room sizes required to accommodate teams carrying out complicated operations, for example,” recalls Brian, “or the kind of equipment required, where it should be placed for easy reach, and the optimal place to position plug sockets based on that information. As a result, I spotted a gap in the healthcare market for advisory services relating to hospital facility planning and medical equipment.”

 

The couple’s first business was launched with the help of the then government’s New Enterprise Programme, devised to turn around unemployment figures by funding new businesses and providing mentorship and networking opportunities. It grew quickly and expanded into equipment procurement; Cathryn came on board to manage the admin side while Brian acted as lead salesman and travelled extensively, bidding for contracts around the world.

 

 

But the slow-burn nature of government contracts, with long deadlines and complicated payment structures, brought challenges. “As we were paid in arrears, we wouldn’t receive payment for months, sometimes years,” explained Cathryn. So it was that despite the promise of great income down the line, the company went into liquidation. 

 

Brian and Cathryn sold their family home and moved lock, stock and barrel to Cornwall. They brought with them not only their four children, but also their knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit. It wasn’t long before they were exploring new possibilities, drawing upon the successes and learning from the failures of their previous venture.

 

This time, the pair and their associates focused on the logistics of delivering medical equipment to health centres and hospitals, a burgeoning market in Africa and the Middle East where access to modern healthcare was increasing and the first hospitals were being built on the back of growing economies such as Egypt, Iraq and Oman. Often, the greatest challenge was a lack of infrastructure – how do you get an MRI scanner in one piece to a remote health centre with no surfaced access roads, or even in a conflict zone?

 

Cathryn found adventure in travelling to exciting places she hadn’t been before. Negotiating contracts and building rapport with clients came easily to her. An equal partner in the business, she retained her maiden name, and the pair travelled separately and even booked two hotel rooms to preserve their professional image.

 

Their barn conversion on the Lizard served as headquarters and training ground for the next generation of healthcare designers and consultants. Graduate training and apprenticeships have always been an important part of the business, with many finding a permanent place on the team. Danny Gibson joined the company 30 years ago as an 18-year-old, and is now a company director, having been at the forefront of transforming healthcare in Jersey during the intervening years.

Now retired, Brian and Cathryn remain founding directors and majority shareholders, and host regular “huddles” - social gatherings uniting their core Cornwall team with outpost employees from London and Cardiff.

 

Recent projects include transforming a heritage building next to Buckingham Palace into Cleveland Clinic London, a state-of-the art medical facility to be run by a major US healthcare player; and drawing upon its wealth of experience in the Middle East to create a brief for a world-class facility in Dubai in collaboration with Kings College Hospital London.

 

 

And of course, there is Cober Valley Health, just up the road from the Hobbs’ home in Helston. The team wanted a GP practice with a focus on natural light, low-carbon solutions, considered interiors and generous space. Its delivery has taken a dilapidated eyesore of a building, blighted by anti-social behaviour, and replaced it with a thriving community facility that is adaptable and sustainable both financially and environmentally.

 

It has increased access to healthcare while also providing broader community facilities, especially for families and young people. Choirs, antenatal groups, exercise classes and local support groups meet weekly in community rooms that can pivot to vaccination clinics and other wellbeing support activities.

 

Director Kieren Morgan led the design and believes that despite – perhaps even because of – its low budget, it stands out from hundreds of healthcare projects he has worked on as something that can be easily replicated in redundant buildings across the UK.

 

Judges agreed – Cober Valley Health beat off stiff competition from Florida, USA and Hanover in Germany to win MJ Medical’s first ever award, in the Adaptation and Transformation category of the European Healthcare Design awards, celebrating innovative approaches to refurbishment and repurposing existing assets while improving quality, efficiency and user experience.

 

While the company brings together professionals from across the UK, MJ Medical offers a great opportunity for its Cornwall team to work within a wider, global context – including Europe, the Middle East and South America - and earn salaries that are competitive nationally.

 

What makes Newham such a great place to do business? “We’re really happy here,” says Kieren. “We have amazing views across the countryside, neighbouring gyms and town is an easy 20-minute walk. 

 

“With many of us living rurally, parking is super-handy; not having to navigate crowded garages and streets makes driving into the office a breeze, and the easy access to shops and restaurants brings a new element to our lives.”