A4P was set up in 2011 with two staff members. They now have six staff located at their Sandwich office with two additional employees based remotely in Cambridge and Munich supporting international clients.
Richard Hucker, A4P’s Director for Regulated Bioanalysis, says, ‘”We have recently expanded into a larger office space onsite at Discovery Park because our client base is continuing to grow and existing clients are expanding their requirements of us.
“One client in particular has grown its requests by a massive 200%, and we need to be able to accomodate this. The dynamic nature of the pharma science sector is an environment where the organizations investing in drug development need to source flexible specialized expertise from outside providers from across the globe.
“For example, one of our U.S.-based clients has just launched a major clinical trial in the UK, which we are supporting locally. We started on the planning nine months ago so its been great to see it finally come to fruition.
“Being onsite at Discovery Park has made a huge difference to our business. It’s been our busiest year to date, which has proven both challenging and exciting. We currently work with numerous onsite companies and of our five newly expanded clients, three of them are based here.
“There are lots of opportunities onsite and potential to expand our services. This is good news and means we are looking to continue investing in recruiting talented people to join A4P and locate here in Sandwich.
“The location is fantastic, with its proximity to Europe and even a relatively easy journey to the U.S. in reasonable time. Our larger office space now means that we are better organized, have better infrastructure and are able to respond quicker to our clients. This expansion represents a new chapter for us and we look forward to being able to serve our clients even better and more effectively.”
Graham Howieson, Head of Business Development, Discovery Park, adds, “Congratulations to all at A4P for their expansion. It’s been a great year for them creating jobs and opportunities here in Kent and building a reputation for excellence both across the UK and overseas. A4P are a great example of the global footprint so many of the companies here enjoy. This is a place with worldwide connections, that thrives on collaboration both on- and off-site with a skills base built up over decades. With A4P, like Discovery Park, there’s a lot more to come.”
• Discovery Park is among Europe’s leading science and technology parks, based on the outskirts of Sandwich, Kent
• The park is an Innovation Cluster where companies and organizations are encouraged to work together and share knowledge
• Providing world-class facilities, Discovery Park has attracted a host of international companies from the life science, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, science and technology sectors
• Facilities include research and development laboratories and specialist niche manufacturing facilities, commercial office space and warehousing
• Discovery Park benefits from Enterprise Zone status
• Discovery Park is home to more than 150 companies employing 3,000 employees
