Biotech firm is spreading out at Quorum Park

A biotech company which first moved to Newcastle’s Quorum Park in 2019 has doubled its floor space to help accommodate its growth.

HistoCyte Laboratories, which develops medical testing products, has grown to a team of 20 staff and the firm plans to undertake further recruitment at its larger home on the ground floor of Quorum’s Neon building.

The firm has signed a new lease with landlord Shelborn Asset Management for a new 4,000 sq.ft space which will enable HistoCyte to expand production capacity and accommodate 10 additional staff. The firm is installing two large tissue culture laboratories, a cold room and expanding its storage space.

Commenting on the firm’s growth, HistoCyte’s CEO Colin Tristram, said: “We are very excited to be increasing our floor space here at Quorum Park. Since moving here in 2019 our sales have grown by approximately 30% each year and while our headcount has grown with demand, the premises haven’t, until now!

“Our new large tissue culture laboratories are where we will grow the cells for our products. There will be a cold room for raw materials but also for our finished stock as we will create our packaging and distribution point here. There will be a write up area for our scientists as well as histology space where we will process the cells and cut material on to microscope slides.

“The team at Quorum have been very accommodating in providing space for a biotech company in what are effectively buildings for offices. There is a burgeoning biotech sector in Newcastle but we don’t have to be located in the city centre where it is comparatively much more expensive to operate.”

Mark Rabinowitz, director of Shelborn Asset Management, added: “At Shelborn we have gained a wealth of experience in providing organisations who work in the life sciences and biotech sectors with office space solutions and we see it as a big growth sector in the UK.

“There are numerous cost benefits of converting conventional offices into lab space and being able to offer additional facilities such as gas storage and specialised mechanical and electrical services. We wish HistoCyte every success in the years ahead.”