Glasgow-based R-Biopharm Rhône, which makes and distributes analytical test kits, is marking 40 years since it began as a university spin-out, and is looking forward to further expansion into emerging technologies and new international markets.
The company, based at the West of Scotland Science Park in the north west of Glasgow, makes kits that test for hazards ranging from toxins in spices to allergens, and for vitamin label verification. It has 73 full-time staff, a turnover of £17 million and sells more than 70 per cent of its output to major international companies outside the UK.
It originated as a joint venture between Strathclyde University and Rhône-Poulenc, a former French chemical manufacturer. Managing director Simon Bevis, who joined the firm in 1993, said: “When I joined, there were only a handful of people, and everything was done by hand. We turned over £600,000 and lost a million. Some people say it takes courage to go on with figures like that, but it’s only courageous if you know. We just carried on regardless.”
Bevis said a major turning point came when the business was bought by French entrepreneur and former Rhône-Poulenc executive Pierre Belmon, who, with managing director Marcel Bony, put it on a sound financial footing. In 2000 Belmon sold it to R-Biopharm AG, the German clinical diagnostics and biotech company, which the company says had the capital to invest and doubled the Scottish operation’s turnover overnight.
“With the continuing support and investment from R-Biopharm AG, we now make a significant annual profit contribution to the group, which does business across 120 countries,” Bevis said.
The business has three main strands: products made in-house and sold globally that test food and feed for substances such as vitamins and mycotoxins; R-Biopharm AG products sold to UK food and agri-businesses; and clinical tests for viruses and pathogens, sold to organisations such as the NHS and centralised testing laboratories.
“It’s a good spread of risk,” Bevis said. “There is plenty of competition, but we sell in a lot of countries – the UK, the US, Germany, Turkey, France Italy and India for example – and we are constantly looking at new applications and technologies.
“We’re very interested in novel foods, such as plant-based foods and insect-based petfood – the world is always looking for alternative sources of protein – but they must be subject to the same regulatory regimes and safety checks as traditional food.”
R-Biopharm Rhône holds Investors in People Platinum accreditation, which it secured in summer 2021. The company says it has been carbon neutral since 2023, offsetting its emissions by purchasing international carbon credits, is verified to the ISO 14068 standard and is committed to reaching net zero by 2045, in line with Scottish Government targets.
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At a black tie anniversary dinner this month, Bevis will name four colleagues who have been with the company longer than him: Carol Donnelly, Paul Dunnigan, Martin Gallagher and Hazel-Anne Dobbie.
“It says something for the company that it can command this kind of loyalty,” he said, “and we hope the younger staff will continue to feel the same pride and satisfaction in our team achievements as we progress through the coming years.”
