Pros
I joined Colorifix just over 4 years ago as a specialist on a 6 month contract. This was reasonable - I wasn't sure if I would really fit in because this was my first job in industry with a background in the civil service, self employment, research in academia, and an assortment of non technical jobs over several years - so there was therefore uncertainty on both sides. My science days were far behind me and I was nearing an age when many people would start to think of retiring. I was quite surprised that Colorifix were willing to take a chance and take me on for 6 months. I am so pleased Colorifix did take that chance. It is without any shadow of a doubt, the best place I have ever worked and I have had many diverse jobs both here and in the USA. Over the past 4 years my work has been recognised and rewarded and I was promoted to management and I am now in the senior management team. It's an amazing place to work and for so many reasons. The science that is done here leaves me in complete admiration of what is possible in biology. The people here are also remarkable. Here, we all want to make a practical difference to make the textile industry more environmentally sustainable. That takes good science, but it also needs so much more and what is impressive about this company is the wide variety of people who bring their specific skills to bear on what is a novel approach and are willing to be challenged. What first struck me about Colorifix when I first joined and is still true today is how flat the management structure is here, and more so than than anywhere I have worked. And it works - it's accessible and open to challenge, recognises independent thinking and yet gives strong and clear direction to the work with quick decisions. The immediacy of this means you really do feel part of the team and what you do counts. Because what we are doing is cutting edge, we are all faced with new challenges every working day - it's not easy work and this is recognised by the company and there is a good culture of helping each other and working together to share and solve problems. I am really happy working for this company, its work is worthwhile, it's intellectually interesting and the people are professional, friendly and good fun.
Kontras
We will probably need to identify more people with a working knowledge of the specialist regulatory landscape relevant to our business operating in the countries we are expanding into.