Penny has worked in healthcare for over 50 years, first as a research scientist and later as the founder director of Id-Tech Ltd, a company specialising in the prevention of sharps injuries in medical settings. In more recent times, Penny has worked as a healthcare consultant and, while at Spark Impact, led a successful bid for £15m of European funding for the North West Fund for Biomedical (NWF4B). This coincided with securing an additional £15m and leading an investment team from Spark Impact’s Liverpool HQ.