How Syncona automated their share scheme with a bespoke solution from Ledgy

About Syncona

Syncona is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LON: SYNC) that invests in and builds biotech companies, focusing on cell and gene therapy.

About Nikki

Nikki Padden is Portfolio & Business Partner at Syncona. She joined in 2014 and has worked in Finance, Launch and Legal functions. Within her wide remit and responsibilities throughout the years, she’s always been involved in managing Syncona’s share scheme.

The search for automation

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Since Nikki has been working at Syncona, they have managed their share scheme internally. What started as a small plan that was manageable without a dedicated solution, then became very cumbersome as their team grew - relying only on Nikki to manage the scheme. “It’s a very complicated scheme and you are more exposed to mistakes unless you find a way to automate it. It also means everyone relies on one individual, which is not appropriate for a growing company.” says Nikki.

With such a complex scheme setup, Syncona has been trying to find a solution to cater to their needs for a while, with no success. Even when they discovered the potential for a completely custom-built solution from a well-known provider, it still did not feel right for them. “It seemed like the only option was to have a system completely built for us, but this would have cost north of a hundred thousand pounds, and it wasn’t worth it. When something is so custom, you also end up being too reliant on the provider to do everything for you so it can’t grow with you. It just wasn’t an effective solution.” Nikki said.

They then went on to hire an external consultant to help them find the right provider. That’s when they found Ledgy. “Ledgy has helped us customise the platform to cater to our scheme. It’s cost-effective, automated, and can grow with us.” she says.

A bespoke solution with outstanding support

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Syncona found a bespoke solution with Ledgy. With a flexible platform and team behind it, Ledgy has been able to cater to Syncona’s complex plan set up - a welcome surprise compared to past experiences. “Our previous attempts to work with a system were quickly terminated because once we got to speaking with the people who design the system instead of with a salesperson, we realised they couldn’t cater to many of our key needs. There was so much manual intervention needed that it was easier to keep our system.” says Nikki. “With Ledgy, it’s been an iterative process. We work closely with the team to make sure the platform works for us.We’ve talked through exactly what we need and the Ledgy team works to develop solutions for us.” she continues.

The team that has worked to support Nikki throughout this process has also been a significant improvement compared to their past experiences. “We trusted the team at Ledgy because they were honest about what the platform could and couldn’t do, but we felt confident that they could cater to what we need.” she says. “Our CX manager is fantastic as well. He is very happy to explain things and make videos for me to refer to. He also is open to exploring innovative approaches to make the platform function effectively for us.”  

The transition and onboarding process has been smooth and maintained data accuracy. "I'm very familiar with the system that I've been using for 9 years, so change can be scary, but Ledgy isn't a scary system. Our onboarding has gone well, and after going through our data, it’s nice to see that Ledgy indeed matches our previous system.” Nikki says.

Modern equity management

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As Syncona uses Ledgy to manage their share scheme, they can see the large impact this can have for the entire organisation. For Nikki, the automation of manual processes represents a significant efficiency gain. "It probably saves at least a couple of weeks a year of labour-intensive admin. It's great to have a system to do it instead of me spending so much time on it." she says.

For stakeholders, the introduction of a centralised, accessible platform marks a dramatic improvement in how they interact with their equity information. “The benefit to me is to be able to automate processes and maintain documents easily. For everybody else it’s having access to a live system.” Nikki shares, "At the moment no awardee can see their documents in one place, they don't know the costs associated.It's a big change and people will really like that.”

The company at large has also welcomed this modernisation effort. "People in the company are glad we are automating it because they know it's a very manual and old process. They also appreciate having visibility into what they own." says Nikki.

Future gains

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Syncona has finally found a platform fit for their share scheme management that can also evolve alongside their needs while improving the experience for all stakeholders. "We've gone from all the awardees not having all their information to now having something that's accessible all the time," Nikki explains.

This accessibility extends beyond current employees to those who eventually leave the company. "Going forward, it's also going to make a big difference when it comes to leavers who will have a system to log into instead of having to email me for any status updates." she says.

With automated processes, improved document management, and a user-friendly interface backed by responsive support, Syncona has finally found the equity management solution they've been searching for. Ledgy effectively balances customisation, cost-efficiency, and scalability to provide a modern solution for public companies to manage their share plans.  

To learn more about how Ledgy can modernise your share plan management, speak with an expert.

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