US science giant opens new NW hub
US medical supplies and research company Thermo Fisher Scientific has officially opening its new £4.5m facility in Runcorn.
The $10bn revenue company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and employs around 34,000 people worldwide, makes and supplies analytical and scientific instruments.
It has invested around £4.5m in creating a centre of excellence at the Cheshire facility, which has created 60 skilled jobs.
The Runcorn facility, which already employed 140 people, is home to Thermo Scientific’s Anatomical Pathology business, which aims to improve the detection and diagnosis of cancer.
Thermo Scientific – which globally serves more than 350,000 customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs and research institution – received support from the Halton Borough Council and North West Development Agency to find a suitable location close to its existing site.
The new base on Manor Park is the largest Thermo Fisher Scientific centre in the North one of its biggest in the UK. Last year the company consolidated operations from locations in California and Eastbourne to Runcorn.
Giulio Cerroni, the company’s vice president of Anatomical Pathology commercial operations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, said: “This is an important investment for the company, and we are already considering the next phase of development for the site.
“As the world leader in serving science, our customers and suppliers rightly expect that we set very high standards in our operations. The new facility in Runcorn demonstrates the company’s commitment to better serving our customers by investing in the future of the business.”
Dr Roger Platt, chairman of the North West Science Council and Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the North West Development Agency spoke at the event this afternoon, along with senior figures from the company including Alan Malus, president of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Laboratory Products group.
