A Tyneside biotech business is set to launch a recruitment drive after doubling the size of its Newcastle base.
HistoCyte Laboratories, which develops medical testing products, has grown to a team of 20 staff since first moving to Newcastle’s Quorum Park in 2019. The company has now doubled its floor space within Quorum’s Neon building to help accommodate its growth. The firm has signed a new lease with landlord Shelborn Asset Management for a new 4,000 sqft space which will enable HistoCyte to expand production capacity and take on 10 additional staff.
The firm is also installing two large tissue culture laboratories, a cold room and expanding its storage space. HistoCyte’s CEO Colin Tristram said: “We are very excited to be increasing our floor space here at Quorum Park. Since moving here in 2019 our sales have grown by approximately 30% each year and while our headcount has grown with demand, the premises haven’t, until now.
“Our new large tissue culture laboratories are where we will grow the cells for our products. There will be a cold room for raw materials but also for our finished stock as we will create our packaging and distribution point here. There will be a write up area for our scientists as well as histology space where we will process the cells and cut material on to microscope slides.
“The team at Quorum have been very accommodating in providing space for a biotech company in what are effectively buildings for offices. There is a burgeoning biotech sector in Newcastle but we don’t have to be located in the city centre where it is comparatively much more expensive to operate.”
Mark Rabinowitz, director of Shelborn Asset Management, added: “At Shelborn we have gained a wealth of experience in providing organisations who work in the life sciences and biotech sectors with office space solutions and we see it as a big growth sector in the Ƶ.
“There are numerous cost benefits of converting conventional offices into lab space and being able to offer additional facilities such as gas storage and specialised mechanical and electrical services. We wish HistoCyte every success in the years ahead.”
