Construction work began last week on a sterilisation plant at the MediPark in Strathclyde Business Park which could become the catalyst to attract medical companies to Scotland from abroad.
The arrival of Andersen Caledonia in Scotland will play a major part in Locate in Scotland's drive to promote Scotland as a good location for medical device manufacturers to serve the European market.
Until now medical device manufacturers in Scotland who did not have their own in-house facilities have had to send their products either to Derby in England or Dublin in Ireland for ethylene oxide sterilisation before they could be sold.
The #1.2m facility will be complete by the autumn, and plant manager Richard Cooper believes the company will employ around 20 people within the next two years.
Anderson Caledonia is owned by Dr H W Andersen, and his family who own a number of medical device manufacturing companies in the US. The company already operates a laboratory facility which was established in 1991 to offer validation services to medical device manufacturers.
They decided to diversify their activities into industrial sterilisation in Scotland after being approached by Locate in Scotland representatives during a conference in New York.
''Locate in Scotland were on the look-out for an American company involved in this type of work who were considering expanding into Europe,'' explained Cooper.
Following the approach in New York a financial package between the company, Locate in Scotland, Lanarkshire Development Agency and North Lanarkshire Council was agreed.
Cooper explained that in the US there are around 150 ethylene sterilisation plants but only two in the British Isles.
''The larger companies in this country have their own in-house facilities,'' explained Richard Cooper, ''but the smaller companies do not, and there are currently no contract services in Scotland which has meant that manufacturers have to send their products to England or Ireland for ethylene oxide sterilisation.''
They took over the premises in the MediPark last year, and are now building an extension to the existing building to house two sterilisation chambers.
Andersen Caledonia have already identified 26 potential customers in Scotland and expect to achieve an annual turnover of #1m within two years.
Further growth could come through the company moving into contract assembly work for other companies.
''We have a clean room facility which can be used for assembly work, and companies considering coming to Scotland may as a first step use us on a sub-contract basis prior to starting up on their own.''
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