Manufacturer of the Year Winner 2022
Sponsored by Kluber Lubrication
The Manufacturer of the Year Award, sponsored by Kluber Lubrication, seeks to recognise a regional manufacturer who can clearly demonstrate outstanding performance during 2021.
Commercial success and evidence of growth, delivery of innovation and continuous improvements, environmental credentials, enhanced supplier relationships and supply chain development are all taken into account.
The winning organisation will receive £2,000 to donate to a local school of their choice to fund a STEM related project and develop vital, lasting industry‑academia links.
Winner: Sterling Pharma Solutions
Beneficiary School: Fordley Primary School
Pharmaceutical development and manufacturing continue to get more complex, with increased need for highly potent and hazardous chemistry.
Following significant growth, this year’s manufacturer of the year, Sterling Pharma Solutions, is fast becoming a well-known, respected player in the industry, competing with the larger pharmaceutical
companies, from its North East headquarters.
Since 2017, Sterling has consistently grown at above 20%, as well as growing from one site with 270 employees in 2019, to four sites with over 860 employees in 2021. The
current head count in Northumberland is 538.
Sterling Pharma Solutions support more than £10 billion in pharmaceutical drug sales and over 170 customers worldwide. The company’s portfolio consists of over 200 products; more than 50 now
in the commercial phase. They have supported 16 through clinical trials and launch over the last four
years.
The firm invested £20 million capital in 2021 and in November, announced a further £10 million investment would be made at its Northumberland site to enhance capacity and technology capabilities.
Sterling have also pledged a 50 per cent reduction in the Northumberland site’s carbon emissions by 2022, and across the group by 2025. Having been awarded the Gold Medal by EcoVadis in recognition of the company’s sustainability, this places Sterling’s
Northumberland site in the top 4% of all companies assessed globally, and top 1% of pharmaceutical companies.
In 2021, Sterling commissioned its onsite CHP plant and has started constructing an Anaerobic Digester, the first of its kind in the UK. In addition, Sterling’s Northumberland site now only buys 2 per cent of its total electricity from the national
grid.
