A THEALE company’s expansion is “precisely what we want to see more of in the Reading area” according to one of the borough’s MPs.
On Friday, Alok Sharma cut the ribbon to a high-tech 26,000 sq ft facility for Tower Cold Chain.
The company manufacturers reliable and reusable supply chain containers that are used across the globe to transport temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical, life-science and biotech products. It uses the very latest technology, including 3D printers, to create the containers, which provide a minimum of 120 hours temperature compliance in any environment, anywhere in the world.
Mr Sharma, the MP for Reading West, was given a tour of the new site, which has helped the firm to expand its container conditioning and storage capacities, as well as enhancing its design, laboratory and testing capabilities.
The company also won a Queen’s Award for International Trade.
“Tower is incredibly impressive,” he said. “It’s underlined by the recent award, it’s a recognition of the significant effort they are making as an export company.
“That’s what we want to see: a lot more exports going out of the UK, across the world.
“And the products are clearly innovative, designed with the environment in mind. We are talking about reusable products which last for a very long period of time, not relying on single use packaging to protect the product that is carried.”
Mr Sharma welcomed the firm’s ethos on sustainability, saying it was “very much about doing things in a green way, but ensuring a service is provided to customers, particularly the pharmaceutical sector, around the world.”
He had previously visited in December, and said he was encouraged by what he had seen since.
“They are clearly excited about their products, quite rightly,” he said. “And they’re very excited about continuing to expand, partcularly the number of hubs it has around the world.”
The official opening was also attended by members of the Tower board.
Chairman Just Arne Storvik said: “The Theale facility offers world-leading technology to support the needs of pharmaceutical companies, airlines and logistics providers. We’re proud to see the facility officially opened and honoured to have such an esteemed dignitary as Alok Sharma here to cut the ribbon.”
And its chief executive officer, Niall Balfour, said: “This is a huge moment for Tower. To get to this point is magnificent.
“We were thrilled to get the Queen’s Award, which has really opened things up for us from an international reach.”
He said that the pandemic had helped raise awareness of the need for safe shipping of pharmaceutical products, and that has also helped the firm’s global expansion. The company is able to ship products between its hubs in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
“We can rotate our containers in and out of all these locations,” he said. “Not only are we a growing UK entity, but we are around the world, and growing around the world.”
The company is now planning to scale up its activities in its different regions, “expanding our global footprint, expanding the expertise, and we’ve got new products we want to bring to the market,” Mr Balfour said.
“The recent growth has allowed us to do that.”
Mr Balfour felt that Theale was perfect location for Tower’s UK operations, being close to Heathrow, and close also to a railway station.
