Discovery Park is dealt a fresh blow

Global Pharma Giant Pfizer plans 500 job cuts at the Sandwich site

IN DEPTH

Discovery Park readies itself for a different future following a recent high-profile, life sciences lay off .

Discovery Park in Sandwich was dealt a fresh blow as global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced its plans to slash 500 jobs and halve its workforce of 940 staff last week.

The Sandwich site has hosted Pfizer since 1954 and employs scientists, technicians, regulatory professionals and business experts all working towards creating life-saving medicines for patients. The factory has been vital to some of Pfizer’s most important medical discoveries including Revatio^® (sildenafil); Vfend^® (voriconazole); Istin (amlodipine); Cardura (doxazosin); and Viagra^® (sildenafil).

A company spokesman told the BBC: "Various areas of Pfizer's global enterprise are making changes to operate more efficiently and effectively… We are proud of our heritage of breakthrough science in the UK and we will retain a scientific presence in the UK including at our Discovery Park location in Sandwich."

The pharmaceutical giant plans to cut US$3.5 billion worth of jobs and costs across its business due to falling sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. The jobs in Sandwich will be lost in the firm’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecule unit which is being consolidated by the group. A 45 day ‘consultation period’ is now taking place.

Pfizer has had a tumultuous time in Sandwich in recent years. In February 2011, the company declared its intention to shut down the entire research and development facility at Sandwich within the next 18–24 months, leading to the redundancy of a majority of the 2,400 workers on-site.

Discovery Park at night

In June of the same year, Pfizer rebranded the Sandwich site as 'Discovery Park' and listed it for sale. Concurrently, Pfizer revealed its decision to retain 350 jobs at Discovery Park, a number later increased to 650 by November 2011. The sale of the freehold for the Discovery Park site to Discovery Park Ltd was completed in August 2012. As part of this transaction, Pfizer committed to leasing approximately 250,000 sq ft of offices and laboratories at the site.

This latest move by Pfizer to halve its workforce has received responses from local politicians including East Kent’s MPs Craig Mackinlay, Sir Roger Gale and Natalie Elphicke who issued a joint statement, noting “The loss of employment locally will undoubtedly be a challenging development for the affected staff and their families.”

A blow to Kent’s life sciences sector

The life sciences industry is a significant contributor to Kent’s economy with 2.6% of businesses in the county operating in biotech, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and medical related sectors. In 2021, there were an estimated 59,500 life science employee jobs accounting for 9.3% of all employment in the county. The industry had fattened up in recent years, growing by 16.7% in personnel over a five-year period to 2021. Dover accounts for nearly a tenth of the county’s overall life sciences workforce with this news from Pfizer dropping the local authority’s industry presence by 15% in one swoop.

The announcement comes as a significant blow to Discovery Park which has been positioning itself as an incubator for the South East’s life sciences industry. The county is currently placing significant resource and efforts on the Discovery Park in Sandwich which is home to over 160 companies from start-ups to MNCs working predominantly in the life sciences and technology space. It recently launched a £1m investment fund Discovery Park Venture fund to back exciting early-stage companies on the park, and Barclays selected the Sandwich site for its latest Eagle Lab to incubate start-ups and enable more business growth on the site.

A number of companies on the business park have raised funding rounds in recent years showing early promise for this investment. Pfizer’s tenancy on the industrial park has long been considered by many as a significant draw for emerging start-ups looking to develop new medicines and technologies. It is regularly featured in advertising literature to potential start-ups on the park. Last month, DLOC Biosystems selected Discovery Park in Kent as the site for its upcoming biology facility. The company cited easy access to firms providing precise assay testing services to pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer.

A report into the economic impact of Kent’s largest community of science and innovation companies suggests Discovery Park is estimated to be worth more than £324 million a year to the UK economy. The value is thanks to the combined efforts of the 160 companies and 3,100 employees at the Sandwich site. A further 900 contractors were employed at the science park during the last year, and an estimated 1,840 jobs are supported elsewhere, thanks to the activities of the Discovery Park-based companies. The 220-acre science park has also been identified by the Government as a Life Sciences Opportunity Zone, with established links to academia and a thriving scientific community.

By losing 500 employees at Pfizer in Sandwich, the Park has seen its occupancy drop by nearly a sixth. While the area has diversified in recent years with a number of business operating in the zone, the news remains a significant blow to the area which has staked considerable organisation resource on Pfizer over the years. Discovery Park is trying to rival The Golden Triangle (Oxford-Cambridge-London) but the metal has now been well and truly dented by this lay-off news.

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BUSINESS NEWS IN BRIEF

💻 International software solutions provider Aptean has completed its acquisition of Sittingbourne-based Affinitus Group. Affinitus Group provides tools designed to manage every aspect of the produce business, assisting fresh produce, food service, bakery, meat, dairy and agricultural organisations. Aptean is a provider of purpose-built, industry-specific software that helps manufacturers and distributors run and grow their businesses, and is based in North America.

🍷 Staplehurst-based Balfour Winery, one of the UK’s largest wineries, has released details of its brand new on-site restaurant – “The Winemakers’ Kitchen”. This follows a record-breaking summer period for the Kent-based business which has seen a 132% increase in bottles produced, to in excess of 850,000 bottles, and over 20,000 visitors to their vineyards. Launching next Friday, the concept centres on the idea of food and wine pairing, with a menu which has been specifically created by Balfour’s Head Chef Dan Austin, working alongside Head Winemaker Fergus Elias.

👷 Businesses and residents are being consulted on proposals for an “employment and enterprise zone” at Chatham Docks. Developer Peel Waters has unveiled its project for a business campus called Basin3, transforming the existing brownfield land into 31,000m² of adaptable workspace. The developer claims this will create hundreds of jobs and apprenticeships and unlock vital economic growth.

🛍️ Public figures are urging measures to address the surge in shoplifting incidents, spurred by a 17% increase in reported cases, with Kent emerging as a notable hotspot. In a motion to be discussed tomorrow, Liberal Democrat members at Kent County Council have called for a comprehensive review of the problem’s extent and what is likely to be done. They claim it is hampering economic growth across the county.

💼 The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will today announce his Autumn Statement which is expected to include a number of changes to business taxes.

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