Tim Kirby on Rewriting the Medical Cannabis Playbook in the UK
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
An interview with Tim Kirby
Tell us about your journey to get where you are today
Prior to Releaf, I worked for Relex, a Top 10 Footsie company, sitting on the board as chief revenue officer in their data division. When I joined them, they were growing at three per cent a year and when I left it was 21 percent. It was all organic growth, with a subscription model giving access to commodity data in the petrochemical industry, predominately.
Before this, we grew a large fintech from six employees to a group of companies with over 100 employees.
My track record is to go to market quickly in opaque, complex, highly regulated sectors and see them to some sort of capital event.
How did Releaf come about?
The medical cannabis space in the UK looked off to us. In every other territory, three per cent of adults had a medical cannabis prescription, but in the UK it was less than 0.1% - yet it had been legal for six years. That gap told us all we needed to know.
We did our research and realised we needed to look at unique delivery methods to open up different demographics and launch a healthcare business ensuring patient needs were at the forefront of everything we did. We invested in a technology platform to meet this unmet healthcare need and launched in 2024.
What excites you about the medical cannabis industry?
I’m excited to be part of an organisation helping to grow the recognition of medical cannabis as a legitimate component of the healthcare system. We are helping build an evidence-base through our patient work and are working with universities and academics in this sphere.
It’s a young industry, but there are many aspects to it that we can play a major role in growing and improving.
What is your focus right now?
One major area is opening up new demographics by presenting the medication in different ways. Many people might benefit from medical cannabis but are put off by the format because it doesn't feel like medicine to them.
We're working with our supply chain to change that. Other products, for example, may remove a psychological barrier.
Do you have a business philosophy?
The majority of businesses I’ve come across focus on results. But results are an outcome. Organisations sit around each week, talking about the results from the week before. They sit down validating the results, and they will blame the conditions that led to these results.
I'd much rather focus on behaviours. Concentrate on the behaviours of your customers and the workforce that drive these results. You must be able to engage in the behaviours at a very granular level, and you've got to be able to demonstrate them yourselves to create a culture of high performance based on belief and trust.
How do you drive success in your businesses?
You need a high boredom threshold. Success is actually the repetition and consistent application of the really boring stuff. You've got to fall in love with the grind of the boring stuff.
You don't have to be brave to outperform the competition. You just have to be consistent, and love the grind.
What lies ahead for Releaf?
We have recently launched in Germany and plan to launch in other international markets within this time frame. I want to reach a million patients in the next five years.
What advice would you give to other business leaders starting on their own journey?
Many business leaders see their team as a resource that supports leadership. For me, it's the other way around. I have always said that leadership exists to support the business to act as a framework enabling the people doing the work to do it well.
When you understand that, it changes your mindset. It will change how you hire people and help you forge a winning culture. The success you will build will reflect the behaviours you demonstrate.
Tim Kirby is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Releaf – the leading medical cannabis clinic in the UK. Tim boasts an enviable track record of growth in highly regulated markets. To connect with him on LinkedIn, click here.
