ILS’ plans to return to full operations after recent fire progress to schedule
Sets up temporary lab space for pharma and food microbiology services destroyed in blaze
International Laboratory Services’ (ILS) plans to return to full operations following the recent fire at its facility are well advanced and progressing to schedule.
ILS, a provider of food and pharmaceutical testing services based in Shardlow, Derbyshire, says temporary laboratory space to replace the food and pharmaceutical microbiology block, which was most affected by the fire, has now been established on the Shardlow site and is in the process of being fitted out.
ILS expects a UKAS inspection within the next two weeks and following approval, testing in this area will resume.
The firm says this is an interim stage and a dedicated team working on developing a permanent solution for its food and pharmaceutical microbiological testing services has been established.
The Pharmaceutical Chemistry department has been transferred to facilities within ILS’s parent company’s laboratories on the same site and these will shortly be inspected by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The Food Chemistry business, which was unaffected by the blaze, continues to operate normally, currently providing an invaluable service including ELISA horsemeat testing during this period of industry concern.
‘A serious incident like this is never welcome but we have been heartened both by the response of our employees and the support of our clients,’ says Lorraine Bater, Operations Director.
‘Our emergency response plan has been very well executed and means we are moving as quickly as possible to ‘business as usual’ throughout all our operations. We thank our clients for their understanding and expect to have further positive news on our progress very shortly.’
