Sinead: On cross-collaboration, flexible spaces and open culture at Cambridge Enterprise
20th anniversary storyCambridge Enterprise will turn twenty at the end of the year – specifically the 1st of December. To celebrate two decades of continued impact and innovation, we spoke with eight members of staff representing different areas of the organisation – from business development, to investment management, event organisation or senior leadership.
Our aim: How Cambridge Enterprise, throughout the years, has helped them evolve and grow in their careers and also learn about their views of its impact on innovation in Cambridge and beyond.
In our third piece of our people spotlight, ‘Inside Cambridge Enterprise’, we spoke with Sinead Varley, Office and Facilities Manager. Sinead joined Cambridge Enterprise in 2013 and has been able to develop her role in the Facilities space.
As the company has evolved and increased sharply in head count, Sinead has been key to adapt the space and cater to each teams’ needs. She spoke to us about her own journey, what makes Cambridge Enterprise exciting and her role in helping define the company values.
To start, we asked her what she would highlight about the company to peers.
“It’s an exciting place to work and I’m passionate about the mission of the company. Even though I‘m not directly delivering on the translational and investment side of things, I still feel like I’m a big part of what’s going on and the work that we do.”
She’s been at Cambridge Enterprise for over thirteen years.
“The company has grown in the last decade, and it’s allowed me to grow with it. I started as an Office Administrator. Then, within a year and a half, I became Office Manager. I then developed further to Facilities and Office Manager and was encouraged to continue learning and took a facilities management diploma.
“I have taken on things that I’ve been interested in and have also been supported to get involved in projects that might be outside my remit, but which have allowed me to work with people I normally wouldn’t, such as the company values working group, an experience I relished.”
“It’s an exciting place to work and I’m passionate about the mission of the company. Even though I‘m not directly delivering on the translational and investment side of things, I still feel like I'm a big part of what's going on and the work that we do.”
She has seen the company evolve in many ways.
“The main one is the number of people; we’ve really grown. The profiles of new hires have also evolved. We are looking for people with innovative and proactive mindsets who think differently and help drive us forward.
“We are offering people more autonomy and everyone’s voice is heard, we want everyone’s opinions, we want everyone to have an input. In general, it feels like the atmosphere is getting more exciting.”
She helped bring our company values to life.
“The way we worked to get to them really helped staff support our values. It was very much a bottom-up approach, and we ended up with four key points: focusing on what matters, to have the space to innovate and grow, to value each other and to be collaborative.
We created a working group for this, with members from all teams and I did genuinely feel like everyone was listened to. It was also enriching for me to work with people outside of my team, enabling me to connect with other company members.”
Her role has also helped us adapt to the new normal after the pandemic.
“We wanted a more collaborative culture at Cambridge Enterprise, and that’s why we have shifted to a hot desking approach. This encourages everyone to sit next to a variety of people within their team throughout the working week, which leads to spontaneous discussions and collaboration. It has been known to stir up cross-team collaboration which is a big part of our culture and values.”
We asked Sinead to finish these sentences:
- The impact of Cambridge Enterprise’s support on University research is… “immeasurable.”
- At 20, Cambridge Enterprise is… “only just getting started.”
- We knew we’d made a difference when we… “started making changes to the company building to accommodate more people in response to the growing demand for our support.”
- Behind the scenes, we… “eat lots of biscuits!”
Reflecting on our people and our progress
Sinead’s reflections highlight the growth of Cambridge Enterprise, and how the physical space and facilities have adapted and evolved to better support its members. Her perspective shows how internal culture at the company is nurtured from within, and how our people are encouraged to learn, experiment, and develop their career.
Her insights form part of a wider set of anniversary pieces that highlight different voices from across the organisation. Each one will share personal perspectives on how Cambridge Enterprise has evolved and what continues to drive our mission. Together, they will show how we are still learning, still growing and still committed to supporting innovation from the University of Cambridge.
