Liverpool-based laboratory testing specialist, BioGrad, has announced plans for further growth as it expands its operations into York. Tony McDonough reports.
BioGrad Group has expanded its services to four new locations since 2022, including laboratories in Birmingham, Newcastle, London, as well as a purpose-built clinical research facility and new company headquarters at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool.
News comes just months after the group announced it had secured a six-figure sum from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund to expand its training division.
In January 2023, under the BioGrad Diagnostics arm, the company opened the UK’s second largest biobank facility in Liverpool, as part of a £7.6m investment into a new headquarters at Wavertree Technology Park.
It will invest more than £3M in its latest expansion over three years to develop a new research and teaching site that will serve as a base for a national clinical trial, expected to be announced next year.
A recruitment drive in York is underway, with one appointment already confirmed. The expansion will grow BioGrad Group’s total headcount to 150.
BioGrad CEO, Dr Natalie Kenny, said: “Our expansion into York represents an exciting new era for BioGrad as we expand our reach across the UK.
“The help and support BioGrad has received from Sophie Hartley, sector development relationship manager at York and North Yorkshire CA, and Christine Hogan, inward investment manager at City of York Council, and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority – as well as the strengths of the region in terms of its world-class NHS Trust and universities – makes York our preferred choice for expanding our operations and their assistance has been vital in enabling us to bring BioGrad’s offering and research capabilities to the city”.
“We take immense pride in our UK-wide presence and eagerly anticipate furthering our efforts to create new jobs and opportunities across the region.”
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David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: “It is great to see laboratory testing specialist, BioGrad, move into York with an investment of more than £3 million over the next three years.
“This investment will enable BioGrad to open a new research and teaching site and create high quality, skilled jobs in a high growth sector.
“The demographic of our population, along with our excellent and growing number of research centres as well as our world-leading universities, we know we can be a major player in global healthcare and continue to go beyond expectation.”