PCI Clinical Services announces Practical Completion at Bridgend

l-r, Kevin Williams (Operations Director, PCI Bridgend), Rachel Griffiths (Associate Director, PCI), John Jones (Asset & Development Manager, RHL), Steve Pike (Cushman & Wakefield on behalf of PCI)

PCI Pharma Services (PCI) has announced the practical completion of its expanded Clinical Services Centre of Excellence at Bridgend.

The new storage and distribution facility will provide PCI – a leading international pharmaceutical outsourcing provider – with a further 37,500 sq ft of space in addition to its existing 33,000 sq ft which is used for specialist clinical trial logistics as well as packaging and labelling activities for investigational medicines.

Property developer and investor Robert Hitchins Ltd began work on the new development at 2500 Central Park, Bridgend Industrial Estate in 2016.

Internal fit-out works are under way. Full completion is scheduled for September. The development almost doubles the site capacity of the Bridgend Centre of Excellence and should be fully operational by January 2018.

PCI is a full-service provider of outsourced pharmaceutical services for the global healthcare industry, including drug development and manufacture, clinical trial supply for investigational medicines including storage and worldwide distribution, as well as contract packaging services for commercial medicines.

It has been a tenant on the Central Park estate in Bridgend since 2007, first occupying 11,000 sq ft at Biotec House, then expanding in 2012 into a custom 22,000 sq ft space in neighboring units 2010 and 2130. There are more than 70 employees.

The purpose-built addition to PCI’s Clinical Services Centre of Excellence provides a modern, high-spec unit with warehouse and office space across two floors to support PCI’s specialist secondary packaging, storage and logistical needs.

It also provides scope for future expansion with an option for a further 35,000 sq ft next to the new building.

John Jones, Asset and Development Manager at Robert Hitchins, said: “The delivery of this high specification building, ahead of schedule and tailor-made to PCI’s exact requirements, is testament to the good relations forged between both companies and to the high standards in which both companies believe.  We look forward to providing further property solutions for PCI in future.”

Kevin Williams, PCI UK Clinical Operations Director in Bridgend, said:  “PCI has a long-standing relationship with Robert Hitchins at Bridgend. We are delighted to have worked with them to develop such a highly-specified building meeting all PCI and our customers’ requirements.

“We have leveraged decades of expertise in building and operating custom-engineered temperature-controlled environments. These industry-leading specifications include increasing the thermal values of the walls and roof, redesigning the frame of the building so there are no steel posts, and ensuring maximum flexibility for the PCI racking design and layout for optimal product storage – while also supporting our future growth objectives for the Clinical Services business. It is truly state-of-the-art.”

Robert Hitchins Ltd is represented by Knight Frank and Lambert Smith Hampton. Cushman & Wakefield acted for PCI.