Nestor Pharma celebrates a year of trading by showcasing its success

25 September 2009

Nestor Pharmaceuticals Ltd, an Indian owned business which set up its UK headquarters in Mildenhall, Suffolk, has opened its doors to showcase its newly refurbished facilities.

Visiting from India, Nestor chairman Mr Rahul Sehgal, welcomed guests which included county and district councillors, who heard how the high-tech manufacturing plant plans to grow from employing 30 people to over 100 in the next few years, bringing vital employment to the area.

To date over £10 million has been invested in the facility to enable the company to start producing a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter medications including Amoxicillin, Aspirin and Diazepam. The company now plans a further £3 million expansion to increase the packaging capacity beyond the current 1 billion tablets a year and also install liquid filling lines and a powder sachet processing plant.

The event was organised with East of England International (EEI), the region’s inward investment agency, who were instrumental in securing Nestor’s investment in the region and who provided extensive practical support to make it easy for the company to set up in the UK, such as arranging work permits, organising utility supplies and advising on regulatory matters.

EEI also worked with the Choose Suffolk and Forest Heath District Council in helping with recruitment and training, as well as advising on housing and schooling for some of Nestor’s employees transferring from India.

Kamlesh Patel, managing director of Nestor UK, advocates Suffolk as a great place to set up business: “The transport links are excellent and the proximity of the Port of Felixstowe is important to us, as is the commitment of the local people who work for Nestor including the many local suppliers we use.”

David Riches, chief executive of East of England International, remarked: “Increasingly, we are seeing businesses from the major developing economies such as India and China looking to set up in the UK and choosing the East of England as their preferred location. Already 25% of the region’s economy is based on foreign owned businesses and we are working hard to attract as much inward investment as possible to the region which has so much to offer them.”

Nestor’s ethos is to use local companies and resources for its ancillary services and its large investment has brought about significant work for a wide range of local suppliers such as logistics, construction, HR and accountancy work. The antibiotics facility which is the company’s latest outlay was built by Hi Tech of Bury St Edmunds.

Ends

Note to Editors

Nestor is a leading pharmaceutical company with a mission to provide low cost, high quality drugs for the many, instead of high-priced drugs for the few. Every capsule, injection, tablet, ointment, syrup and powder that carries the Nestor symbol ensures integrity, purity and safety, endorsed by 50,000 doctors and 200,000 pharmacies each month.Six Nestor factories serve India, Nigeria and the UK. Our next expansion phase will see us in the strategic markets of S.E. Asia, North Africa and Central Asia.

East of England International (EEI) works with companies seeking to trade internationally and assists foreign-owned businesses looking to invest in the region. EEI is funded by and works in partnership with the UK Government, the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and a wide range of businesses and partners in the region.

In the East of England, EEI’s Trade Team delivers UK Trade & Investment’s export services.

UK Trade & Investment is the government organisation that provides integrated support services for UK companies engaged in overseas trade and foreign businesses focused on the UK as an inward investment location. It brings together the work of teams in British embassies and FCO posts overseas and government departments across Whitehall. In England, international trade support is coordinated by nine International Trade Directors working in partnership with each Regional Development Agency.

East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Its vision is to create a leading economy, founded on a world-class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here. EEDA funds EEI’s Inward Investment activity.

For further information on the above organisations visit:
www.nestorpharma.com
www.eei-online.com
www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
www.eeda.org.uk

McCain’s Renewable Energy facilities attract foreign VIP interest

East of England International (EEI) and McCain Foods (GB) Ltd, based in Whittlesey, have played host to a visit from the British Consul General for Toronto, who is in the UK as part of a fact finding mission about clean technology (Cleantech).

Jonathan Dart, who is also the Director of UKTI for Canada with overall responsibility for the UK’s commercial inward investment and trade activities within Canada, is in the region as part of a duty tour, with an emphasis on seeing Cleantech in action, and finding out about further investment opportunities there are in the East of England for Canadian companies.

McCain Foods Ltd is a major Canadian family-owned investor into the UK. The Whittlesey plant opened in 1972, and expansion of the production plant has been incrementally driven by almost unbroken year-on year growth in demand. McCain Foods, as an investor in the community, has a strong family ethos and commitment to their staff, evidenced by their solvent Final Salary Pension scheme. Mr Dart was keen to see their investment in action, and his visit to the site included a tour of their renewable energy facilities, which includes three 3MW wind turbines which have proven very successful in reducing the ‘take’ of electricity from the Grid since the end of 2007..

Additional green investment has been made by McCain in an anaerobic digester lagoon for liquid wastes which provides a methane fuel source to further reduce external power consumption. Investment is also continuing inside the plant to minimise water usage, reduce energy consumption, reduce packaging volumes, and simplify maintenance.

Mr Dart is keen to take information and experiences of Cleantech back to Canada in order to support EEI in encouraging further investment in the East of England and the Peterborough area, especially in the research and development of Cleantech.

Mr Dart was met by Bill Bartlett, Corporate Affairs Director for McCain Foods (GB) Ltd, and Andy Hook, Investor Development Manager for EEI.

Andy Hook said: “McCain’s inward investments into Whittlesey and the community are impressive and by embracing green technology they are having a significant positive environmental impact and controlling their production costs. They are an example to other larger manufacturers in the UK who aspire to lead their sector.”

EEI has worked closely with McCain Foods to provide business support including information about government backed training and qualifications for staff through local organisations such as Improve and Food East. They organised introductions to the regional Food Sector Employers Group, and provided details of regional expertise in renewable energy from Renewables East, and industrial material recycling via the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme.

Cleantech is new technology and related business models that offer competitive returns for investors and customers while providing solutions to global challenges. The term Cleantech represents a diverse range of products, services, and processes, all intended to provide superior performance at lower costs, while greatly reducing or eliminating negative ecological impact, at the same time as Improving the productive and responsible use of natural resources