New contracts result in pharmaceutical packaging company expanding in Swindon

Pharmaceutical and health product specialist group Wasdell has moved part of its operation into a new 108,000 sq ft site at Groundwell Industrial Estate, North Swindon, in a bid to service additional contracts.

Wasdell, which has its head office at Blagrove, Swindon, opened a new €36m purpose-built facility in Dundalk, Ireland, last year in response to Britain’s planned departure from the EU. The company moved 25 per cent of its business from the UK to Dundalk, but the free space created at the Blagrove facility has rapidly been filled by new business from within the UK and abroad.

The new work includes a contract to supply medicines and dietary supplements direct to patients and consumers by post, resulting in the creation of 30 brand new roles including two pharmacists. Staff responsible for quality assurance and validation are also working at the new site.

Wasdell’s Technical Division, formerly known as Vineham Engineering, has also been relocated from the Blagrove site to Groundwell.

Daniel Tedham, managing director of the Wasdell Group, said the move had become necessary because the Blagrove site at Junction 16 is built out and cannot accommodate further increases in work.

“We planned for Brexit by investing in a new European facility in Dundalk, and moved a quarter of our UK business over there, but our continued success in securing new domestic and overseas contracts, including several from Japan, means that we have now had to take additional space in Swindon,” he said.

“While it’s good to have certainty on Brexit, and we are already feeling the benefit of extending our geographic reach into Europe, it is frustrating to have to open new facilities piece-meal, at various  sites around Swindon, rather than take a strategic approach to our growth. If we are to continue to grow we do need to be able to locate all our UK business on one site.”