NEWS
Melbourn Scientific adopts growth strategy
Selective outsourcing of processes that require specialist equipment and skills intensively, for short periods, creates a competitive advantage and this gains particular strategic importance during a downturn. Contract research company Melbourn Scientific has responded to this changing environment by extending its portfolio of services and investing in its staff. It has been rewarded by steady growth and a significant increase in turnover in 2008 with over 30% of its business coming from overseas.
To manage the growth, the company has broadened its management team. Founder Steve Westcott is to become Executive Chairman, and Mark Hammond, previously Business Development Director has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer. The company has also appointed Walter Herriot OBE as a Non-Executive Director. Walter was Managing Director of the enterprise hub St John's Innovation Centre for many years until he retired in November 2008 and is highly respected by government, industry and academia.
A driver for restructuring the company has been the growth in its team of specialist staff as Steve Westcott explains:
"The majority of our clients are at the cutting edge of innovation so the expertise and knowledge that we can offer - gained from working on many different projects for a wide range of companies - can afford them substantial benefits."
"There is now greater value attached to the data that is generated in the early stages. More than ever we are seeing pressure on sponsors to reach a go/no go decision at an earlier stage and this has been reflected in increasing demand for services such as accelerated feasibility testing, which provides some of the information needed to make these decisions.
"In addition, the reformulation of existing products to protect patents is seen as a means of protecting value. This has created interest in our experience of formulation development for novel delivery devices.
Westcott will also oversee expansion of the company's state-of- the-art laboratories located in Melbourn, close to Stansted Airport and its links to Europe.
Mark Hammond, as business development director, has steadily increased both the portfolio of clients and the proportion of business from overseas. He sees this as an essential part of the growth strategy:
"UK with its strong regulatory framework means that companies such as ours have a reputation for quality and rigour and this together with the currency fluctuations, strengthens our ability to attract overseas clients. We have made export a priority and to support this have encouraged greater cultural diversity within the company and concentrated on improving our communication skills and practices to make us easier to work with."
This policy is endorsed by Westcott who comments, "Mark possesses an in depth knowledge of the business, and has been successful in attracting international clients. I have every confidence in his ability to manage the business on a practical and strategic level."
Melbourn Scientific works with many of the world's major device developers, consultant companies and large pharmaceutical companies, plus a wide range of biotech and healthcare companies. As a result of this it has a significant experience of a wide variety of drug delivery platforms from tablets, creams and patches through to nebulisers, OINDPs (pMDI, nebulisers nasal sprays and DPIs), and is able to develop novel original formulations, or work on re-formulation projects.