31st January 2012

MediWales member Biotec invests

by Rhodri Evans, Western Mail Jan 31 2012

BIOTEC Services International has unveiled plans to double capacity thanks to an investment of £800,000.

The business plans to create up to 16 jobs as a result of the investment in a 15-year lease of 15,000 sq ft of additional operational, packaging and storage facilities at Bridgend Industrial Estate.

The new premises will double current capacity and see staff numbers grow from 39 to 55 over the next four months.

The investment has included a £200,000 grant from the Wales Economic Growth Fund and a £500,000 loan from Finance Wales.

Property consultants DTZ advised Biotec with Cooke and Arkwright acting for the landlord.

Business Minister Edwina Hart said she was delighted to hear how the Economic Growth Fund is bringing real benefits to business.

“The fund was set-up to help companies access finance to enable them to take forward growth plans.

“Biotec is one of the first to benefit from the fund and I am pleased to hear of its significant expansion plans,” she said.

“The Life Science sector – which includes pharmaceutical companies – is one of our key economic sectors with high growth potential so I welcome this latest investment by Biotec that will support its continued growth in Wales.”

Led by chief executive Keren Winmill, Biotec was established in 1997 and is now a leading global provider of clinical trial services including import, certification, labelling, assembly, storage and distribution.

With turnover on target to reach £12m by 2015 from a current figure of around £9m in 2011, Biotec has experienced a 353% increase in turnover since 2007 with 89% of current turnover being linked to international trade.

The rapid growth is attributed to the establishment of a dedicated business development team, the active marketing of the US and Israeli markets and continued investment in capacity.

The company was also awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade Category in 2008.

Ravi Nalliah, Finance Director of Biotec said the company is committed to being a global leader in cold chain pharmaceutical services.

“We have ambitious objectives for the next three years which will involve a strategic focus on organic growth and regenerative medicine while ensuring strong branding that gives clear market positioning,” he said. “We are also developing our temperature controlled storage facilities in line with customer demand.

“This will include the adaptation of a new, second unit which will be developed as a specialist centre for storage and packing of temperature controlled products. Our temperature controlled packing abilities will become part of a unique service offering through the availability of temperature controlled packing rooms. We then hope to launch our offering in new markets including Korea and Australia.”

“The support from Welsh Government and Finance Wales underpins our future growth as we work hard to achieve our vision of becoming the market leader in cold chain pharmaceutical services, head-quartered in the UK with a global presence,” he added.

Dave Perez, senior portfolio executive at Finance Wales said he was pleased to see the level of international business now being won by the company.

“Biotec has grown impressively since our first investment in 2010 and in that time we’ve built an excellent relationship with the company,” he said. “We’ve now invested two rounds in Biotec and it’s refreshing to see it making such positive inroads into international markets.

“The new management team has focused on growth and building Biotec’s reputation by developing services to meet different market needs.”