Thermo Fisher has said it will significantly expand capacity for its coronavirus sample collection products in Perth that will lead to the creation of 200 jobs.
The company said that given the significant demand for Covid-19 testing, the added capacity will allow the company to scale production in Scotland to more than eight million filled tubes a week.
The company said it expects to create approximately 200 new full-time jobs in 2020 and plans to complete the expansion in Q1 2021.
“With the expansion of our site in Perth, we are continuing to rapidly increase production of sample collection products to meet an urgent national and international demand for Covid-19 testing,” said Stewart Blair, site leader and director of European prepared media operations for Thermo Fisher.
“We are investing in the United Kingdom, for the United Kingdom, and our employees are honoured to support the national effort to reinforce current testing operations.”
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Scottish Government Innovation Minister Ivan McKee, said, “Scotland is already the leading part of the UK outside of London for attracting Inward investment. This announcement by Thermo Fisher shows the importance of continuing to attract such investment to Scotland, creating high value jobs across the country.”
Mr McKee added: “Thermo Fisher is a huge part of Scotland’s life sciences industry and plays a key role in our response to the Covid-19 crisis supplying test kits, analysers and logistical support to the Lighthouse Lab in Glasgow, and NHS labs across the country. The planned expansion in Perth will help to meet future demand for testing supplies, and will support Scotland’s economic growth by creating skilled jobs in the life sciences sector.”
Linda Hanna, managing director at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Thermo Fisher’s investment in its expansion and the creation of 200 new jobs in Scotland is very welcome news in the current economic climate. We’ve worked with the company for a number of years, initially with its Inchinnan manufacturing site expansion, and we’re pleased to continue this support, alongside our partners, with its Perth expansion.
"This increased production capacity helps demonstrate that Scottish manufacturing can meet the growing demand for Covid-19 testing at home and overseas. More importantly, it means Covid-19 samples can continue to be collected and transported safely as part of the global pandemic response.”
In support of the site expansion, the Perth and Kinross Council helped the project through the planning and building warrant process, getting planning in place in record time.
Murray Lyle, leader of Perth and Kinross Council, said: “The medical testing equipment Thermo Fisher manufactures is vital and as we continue to move forward with returning to as normal a way of life as possible this equipment will be more important than ever.”
The Scottish production is in addition to the eight million tubes produced per week at Thermo Fisher’s new manufacturing site in Lenexa, Kansas, US.
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