Porvair has invested in 42,000ft2 premises in New Milton, Hampshire, UK, creating around 20 jobs in the process as part of a strategy to consolidate its industrial process business across one site. Member of Parliament for New Forest West, Desmond Swayne officially opened the new premises on 20 March.
Commenting on the importance of the New Milton base, General Manager Mike Hughes said: 'This represents a significant milestone for our business. It will increase overall capacity within the group, facilitate growth across the business and provide a platform for further expansion.
'It will strengthen our capability to meet the growing demands of our customers across a wide range of sectors including pharmaceutical, chemical and industrial processing, and food and beverage.'
Porvair Filtration Group’s Managing Director, Tom Liddell added: 'This investment is a strategic step forward which will increase our capability to design and manufacture our products in line with customer expectations. I’m confident that both our staff and customers will see our investment as a commitment to technical excellence and customer service.'
As well as integrating Porvair’s industrial process operations, the new facility will provide further capacity at Head Office in Segensworth, to support the company’s growth plans in the Energy and Aerospace markets.
The company currently employs 60 staff in New Milton across separate units, and the new building will see staff numbers increase to 80 when Porvair moves its microfiltration business from Segensworth to the new facility in Hampshire.
Porvair has spent £3.5m on purchasing and fitting out the building, including an investment of £300,000 in an ISO Class 8 rated cleanroom.
The group manufactures in both the UK and US and has a network of sales offices and distribution channels throughout the world. It has been working to increase its presence in the pharmaceutical sector and recently set up a Product Validation Service, designed to provide a cost-effective, in-process, product validation service for its range of polymeric cartridge filters for use within the pharmaceutical industry.
Process validation of cartridge filters, specific to a product is mandatory within the pharmaceutical industry to ensure compliance with standards set by regulatory authorities including the US FDA, European Pharmacopeia and ISO 13408-2.
In collaboration with leading FDA approved laboratories, Porvair Filtration is offering to undertake independent testing for chemical compatibility, extractables, leachables, and bacterial retention at a lower cost than other filtration companies.
Hughes said: 'It is our intention to remove the cost barrier validation has historically presented, to allow customers the freedom to select our products for their process. We believe that our product- and process-specific validation service provides considerable peace of mind, going above and beyond standardised tests, and promoting new levels of assurance.'
The company, which is currently experiencing double-digit growth in its pharma sector business, is also looking to increase its presence in the single-use sector and expects to launch new products relevant to this market sector in the near future.