Inspiration Healthcare makes ventilators and other equipment for premature babies in hospital intensive care units, and sells to more than 75 countries. After three years of falling margins, a boardroom shake-up and a discounted share issue, it returned to profit in the year to January 2026, helped by £9.5m of one-off export orders. It has now agreed to hand its infusion-pump distribution business, about a fifth of sales, back to the supplier.
Ventilators for the smallest patients
The group designs and builds neonatal intensive care equipment at its Croydon centre in south London. Its core is SLE, a ventilator brand the company dates to 70 years ago. The SLE6000 is its flagship for the sickest babies, and the SLE1500 serves lower-intensity areas such as step-down units and delivery rooms. SLE also sells consumables (single-use parts) and service contracts.
Three units report separately. SLE sold £31.6m in FY26 (year to 31 January 2026). Inspiration Healthcare, the UK and Ireland sales arm, sold £13.9m of third-party neonatal products plus Micrel infusion pumps. Airon, bought in January 2024, makes pneumatic ventilators that need no electronics or batteries and sells mainly in the USA, with £2.1m of revenue.
Capital equipment is 73% of SLE revenue. That makes sales lumpy, because hospital budgets and tenders decide timing. Management wants more consumables and service revenue to even this out. 16 Jun 2026 28 May 2025
Supply problems, lost products and a missing order
Revenue fell from £41.2m in FY23 to £37.6m in FY24, and adjusted EBITDA (profit before interest, tax, depreciation and one-offs) halved to £2.0m. The company named several causes. Component shortages forced redesigns and costly stock-building. A distributed product failed to get its EU medical-device (MDR) certification. Makers of adult ventilators moved into neonatal after the Covid-era glut. The older SLE1000 and SLE5000 ventilators were withdrawn because parts were unavailable and re-engineering them for MDR was too costly. Earlier, FY23 had seen a roughly £13m cash outflow, driven partly by a £6m Croydon site investment and stock.
A large Middle East order for the SLE6000 slipped. In January 2024 the company said FY24 revenue would be £37.0m, below expectations. It needed lender covenant waivers, and net debt rose to £6.0m. Neil Campbell stepped down as CEO in May 2024, and Chair Roy Davis became interim CEO. 26 Jun 2024 3 Oct 2023 31 Jan 2024 1 May 2024 28 May 2024 1 Feb 2024
A discounted raise and a deeper hole
In June 2024 the company raised £3.0m at 14p a share, a 42.9% discount to the prior close. The placing and subscription alone diluted holders by 25.4%. The first-half FY25 results showed revenue down 17% to £17.0m, gross margin down to 43.5% from 48.6%, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of £0.9m. The lender reset covenants at lower levels in November 2024.
FY25 ended with revenue of £38.3m but gross margin of 42.8% (47.5% a year earlier) and an operating loss of £14.7m. Adjusted EBITDA was £0.2m, and net debt was £8.3m. The company reports its adjusted figures before impairment and one-offs, and the extracts do not itemise what drove the larger statutory loss. The shares fell from about 40p in December 2023 to 12.5p in December 2024. 26 Jun 2024 28 Jun 2024 2 Oct 2024 4 Nov 2024 28 May 2025
Back to basics, then the big export orders
Under a 'back to basics' plan (restructured sales teams, closure of the Hailsham site, lower inventory) the second half of FY25 recovered. Raffi Stepanian became CEO in January 2025. Two export contracts then lifted FY26: a $6m order for SLE6000 and SLE1500 ventilators from a global humanitarian organisation, and the first part of the Middle East order. Together they added £9.5m. Underlying SLE sales still grew 10%.
FY26 revenue rose 24% to £47.5m and adjusted EBITDA reached £2.8m. Operating cash inflow was £7.5m, helped by a 33% cut in inventory to £8.8m. Net debt fell 39% to £5.1m. The shares reached 29.4p in April 2026. 18 Feb 2025 24 Jul 2025 7 Oct 2025 12 Feb 2026 16 Jun 2026
Lumpy orders and thin margins
Two problems recur in the record. Revenue depends on large capital orders, and when one slips, as the Middle East order did, results and covenants feel it at once. Distributed products and infusion pumps depend on partners' supply and regulation, and on a few big customers. The infusion business fell 13% in FY26 after a major customer overstocked in FY25.
FY26's growth leaned on one-off orders, and H1 FY27 shows the effect. Revenue was £22.0m, down from £24.0m, because those orders did not repeat. 26 Jun 2024 16 Jun 2026 7 Oct 2025 8 Sep 2026
New CEO, tighter ship, narrower focus
Roy Davis returned to Non-Executive Chair when Raffi Stepanian joined as CEO in January 2025. Alan Olby is CFO. The company cut annualised costs by £1.25m. It hired regional managers for Asia Pacific and Latin America. It reorganised into the SLE, Inspiration Healthcare and Airon units. It also added Cavendish as joint broker and appointed Crowe as auditor.
In June 2026 it announced the transfer of Micrel infusion distribution back to Micrel. That business had £9.7m of revenue at about a 25% contribution margin. The company expects net debt to fall about 20% in FY27 as a result. Employees move under TUPE (UK rules that move staff to a new employer) on 1 July 2026, and the agreement ends on 31 January 2027. In July 2026 the board withdrew two AGM resolutions, on share buybacks and on disapplying pre-emption rights, after shareholder feedback.
The record on delivery is mixed. Cash, inventory and net debt targets were met. Several product and regulatory timetables have slipped (see outlook). Former CEO Neil Campbell, then a non-executive, sold 2.2m shares in February and March 2025, about £370k. 12 Dec 2024 18 Feb 2025 2 Jun 2026 16 Jun 2026 20 Jul 2026 24 Feb 2025 12 Mar 2025
Smaller revenue, steady debt
The September 2026 trading update gave H1 FY27 revenue of £22.0m. SLE sales were £12.7m, up 38% on the prior-year first half excluding one-offs. Airon was £1.6m and distribution £7.6m. The company expects to finish the year slightly ahead of market expectations. Net debt excluding leases was £5.2m, against £5.1m at the January year end.
Ownership has shifted. Redworth Portfolio's stake rose from about 15% in January 2026 to 25.03% by 13 October 2026. On that same day Charter Kontron Limited was also recorded at 25.03%, up from below 3%. The company has not said how the two holdings relate. The latest close, on 14 October 2026, was 18.5p. 8 Sep 2026 16 Jun 2026 13 Oct 2026 26 Jan 2026
Doubling sales, but deadlines have moved
On 16 June 2026 management set a target to double group sales over five years. Airon's five-year doubling target dates from 28 January 2026. The September 2026 update also cites progress towards doubling SLE revenues, with no date or terms given. The company says the FY28 outlook holds despite the infusion loss, which will cut revenue, and says its order book and pipeline support FY27 expectations.
Past deadlines have moved. In October 2023 the company filed its first SLE6000 FDA (US regulator) application and expected approval in the second half of 2024. By October 2025 it planned a new filing in 2026 and a US launch in H1 2027. In June 2026 the filing moved to late 2027. Its own SLE consumables range, first promised for later in 2025, is now due in FY27.
The open questions are whether SLE sales hold up without export one-offs, whether growth in neonatal products fills the infusion gap, and whether the US filing keeps its date. The company has not said what the two 25% shareholders intend. 16 Jun 2026 28 Jan 2026 8 Sep 2026 3 Oct 2023 7 Oct 2025 28 May 2025
“our vision is to double the sales for the group over the next five years.” 16 Jun 2026
Written by AI from Inspiration Healthcare Group's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources