Getting a helping hand in the lab

In an ideal world laboratories are allocated sufficient budgets to purchase the very latest instrumentation. However, as things often prove to be less straightforward in reality, companies such as Colco Scientific have set up shop as middlemen between labs looking to make up for a tight budget by buying and selling secondhand equipment.

While the concept of secondhand equipment may be foreign to some scientists and managers, with lab equipment traditionally being purchased direct from the manufacturer or via a catalogue supplier, qualified sources maintaining GLP standards are able to offer reliable equipment at up to an 80% discount on the original price.

"Equipment can sometimes be unused or surplus stock and therefore be in almost new. or new condition," says Colin Shandley, director of Colco. "Specialised companies in the UK offer a wide range of quality used lab equipment, ranging from autoclaves, balances and centrifuges, right through to water purifiers. Purchase options range from fully tested with six months warranty, to simply taking it in as-is. condition at an even cheaper price."

The option to hire equipment for short-term projects offers another way of reducing expenditure, particularly in the case of high value instrumentation such as GC, HPLC or spectrophotometers, while the possibility of selling lab equipment that is no longer required provides both a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to the most common solutions: storage and disposal.

"Not only can this generate funds for your laboratory but also it is morally satisfying," says Shandley. "In many cases equipment can be put back into use in developing countries."