HRH Prince Andrew Visits our New Factory

On 13th April 2005 we were delighted to welcome HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, to the Biocatalysts premises. Accompanied by the Queen’s Lord Lieutenant Kate Thomas, Her Majesty the Queen’s local representative, he toured the premises meeting people and watched scientific demonstrations conducted in the large bespoke laboratories.

The Prince started his visit, arriving by helicopter, meeting local dignitaries. Once inside Biocatalysts the visit became essentially a private one with His Royal Highness meeting all the staff and spending time chatting and watching the highly qualified workforce developing new products for the food enzyme industry.

The Duke was visiting us as part of his role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, working on behalf of UK Trade & Investment, the government body which supports UK companies trading internationally and encouraging foreign investment.

He was keen to talk to people at the sharp end of the business from those in Administration to Production. He talked extensively to both Eira Brown who deals with Sales Order Processing for Biocats and also Clare Simpson whose remit is Regulatory Affairs. Both were articulate about the difficulties experienced by companies in the UK today and pending legislation means that this will almost certainly become worse in the future. The Prince went away well informed about the issues facing Biocatalysts and the problems experienced by companies when such a large proportion (over 80%) of the business is export based.

Managing Director Stuart West and Promotions Manager Caroline West gave a short presentation about the company highlighting its obsession with exceptional customer service and the ability to custom-tailor products so that the enzyme is optimised for the individual process to achieve the best possible results for the end-user.

The visit lasted about an hour, during which time the Prince met most of the staff. He then went on to complete another 2 visits before leaving Wales.