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Pharmaceutical giant to bring up to 100 new jobs to Newcastle as 'huge coup' is unveiled

Fast-growing pharmaceutical firm Accord Healthcare will create up to 100 new jobs in Newcastle, after purchasing a site closed just six months ago.

Regeneration specialists Trevor Cartner and Chris Musgrave completed the purchase of the Fawdon pharmaceutical site, at Northumberland Park, from French global healthcare company Sanofi in January.

Pharmaceutical giant Accord Healthcare is involved in the development, manufacture and distribution of more than 130 pharmaceutical products in around 60 countries worldwide.

Accord, which has its UK base in North London, will focus on providing a service-orientated production operation to Europe’s major customers, including the UK market, and delivering a sustainable lower carbon footprint supply chain at the Fawdon site. It is believed that many of the new jobs created at the new site will be filled by ex-Sanofi employees who possess the relevant skill set.

Accord has come to an agreement to use the entire 19.3-acre Northumberland Park site, which offers more than 400,000 sq ft of high quality laboratory, manufacturing and office space. The successful Cartner and Musgrave partnership has already created around 5,000 jobs at their Wynyard Park site on Teesside and at Discovery Park in Kent, where they also own Stone Hill Park.

Together with Northumberland Park, the four sites take in around 2,000 acres and 3m sq ft of laboratory and office space. Mr Cartner and Mr Musgrave expect the total number of jobs created when all four are fully developed to top the 10,000-mark.

Announcing the Accord deal, Mr Musgrave said: “This agreement is a huge coup for Fawdon and represents a major boost for the economy of the whole area. We’re delighted to have secured a prosperous, long-term future for the site just a matter of weeks.

“We’ve worked hard to turn around the site’s fortunes and hopefully create a lasting legacy. We held discussions with a number of interested parties, but when a firm the size and quality of Accord came in, it quickly became clear that their vision encompassed the entire site.

“Sanofi were keen to retain the heritage of the site they occupied for a quarter of a century. Other developers wanted to knock down the existing buildings and build houses.

“But we were able to convince Sanofi that our track record of creating successful science parks meant that with us, Fawdon’s future was in safe hands. With this deal, we’ve been able to make good that promise.”

Councillor Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “This announcement is fantastic news for Newcastle and the North East, and helps strengthen our reputation as a home for the science and healthcare sector.

“We’ve worked closely with Sanofi and Wynyard Park over the past 18 months, and we’re delighted those negotiations have come to such a positive conclusion. Accord are a global player in the pharmaceutical industry, and the highly skilled jobs and long-term investment bring a welcome boost the local economy.

Keith Daniels, Site Head for European Retail Production at Accord Healthcare, commented: “We are a young and dynamic company with very ambitious plans. We are confident that the jobs and investment we are bringing to Newcastle will impact on the community in an extremely positive way.”

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