Laboratory jobs growth culture
Dec 6 2007 by Graeme King, The Journal
PHARMACEUTICALS business the Specials Laboratory is hunting for new staff to boost its team by more than 15%, as its rapid growth continues.
The Northumberland company, headed by managing director Fiona Cruickshank, has grown rapidly in the eight years since it was formed.
Today the business employs 145 staff at its base on the Low Prudhoe Industrial Estate, but needs a further 23 skilled people to fulfil its ever-growing order book.
As well as hiring more staff, the business also needs more space to grow and Ms Cruickshank and her business partner Brian Dougherty are investing in fitting out an extra business unit to add to the three the company already occupies.
At a time when the NPIL (formerly Pfizer) plant in Morpeth is shedding up to 70 jobs and there is uncertainty surrounding the future of the Glaxo plant in Barnard Castle, the Specials Laboratory is significant in bucking the prevailing trend in its sector.
The company posted sales of £11m in the year to June and is on target for £14m this year – an impressive 27% leap in 12 months, after an even bigger rise from £8m in 2006.
Fiona Cruickshank said: “This is a good opportunity for us to say we are an SME and we are still growing in this sector.
“We’ve gone outside the region looking for staff but have not been very successful. Some people have turned us down after going back to their boss to get more money in their existing job.
“There’s a bit of doom and gloom at Glaxo as the company is reviewing places like Barnard Castle, and with the announcement of the old Pfizer plant shedding 70 jobs – and quite specialist jobs, people at Morpeth are maybe not aware we are offering this kind of role.”
The 23 roles the Specials Laboratory is looking to fill include formulation scientists, validation engineers, qualified technicians, pharmacy technicians, a contracts manager and supervisory roles in packaging and production.
The company currently operates out of units one, two and six on the Low Prudhoe Industrial Estate in Prudhoe, and has now taken on unit three as well.
Ms Cruickshank said the Specials Laboratory had succeeded by offering high levels of customer service, and doing things that other companies do not offer.
She said: “The specials side of the business works on short lead times with good knowledge and expertise. And we can do very fast clinical manufacturing.
“We work with people doing early stage development work. We are pretty unique in Europe for the service we provide in sterile manufacturing – it’s a very technical business.”
