Manchester fertility startup founded by two mums establishes first office

A Manchester-based fertility and family planning startup has moved into its first office.

Dr Fertility has operated at the Incubator Hub, set up by North West recruiter Forward Role, since it was founded last year by friends Kobi McCardle and Lucy Buckley.

With support from Forward Role founder Steve Thompson and director Brian Johnson, Dr Fertility has made the leap into bigger premises at the WeWork building in Spinningfields.

Former flatmates Kobi and Lucy established the business while on maternity leaving, having had babies within four weeks of each other.

Kobi has 17 years’ digital experience, working most recently as ecommerce director at appliances etailer AO. Lucy’s background includes 15 years in the pharmaceuticals sector.

Kobi said: “People who are struggling to conceive often say they feel very lonely because they don’t feel like they are able to openly discuss it with family and friends. The path to parenthood can be an incredibly painful journey for many people and we need to recognise both the emotional and physical challenges they face.

“It makes us sad that people often feel more comfortable talking about their sex life than they do about fertility.”

She continued: “Our initial focus was developing expert fertility content and offering trusted products that help people to get pregnant, however we started to receive requests from consumers who were looking for natural and hormone-free alternative forms of contraception and family planning.

“As a result we are now expanding our product range and content to help people both planning and preventing pregnancy.”

Forward Role founder Steve commented: “It’s tough setting up in business and I think it’s incredibly important to find your own space and identity as early as possible in the journey. As an SME it really does give you an extra level of credibility and confidence.

“We certainly love the concept of the Dr Fertility brand and Kobi and Lucy are people that we really believe in.”

He added: “That combination means we’re confident that Dr Fertility is one to watch in the eCommerce space. We’re going to miss having them around the Forward Role office but we’re really proud to have helped the business get to this stage.”