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Pharmaceutical giant considers Barnard Castle

Hundreds of jobs could be created in a County Durham market town with the potential arrival of a £300m pharmaceutical factory.

Drugs giant GlaxoSmith Kline (GSK) has highlighted its Barnard Castle plant as one of three possible locations for its first UK-based biopharmaceutical factory.

The Barnard Castle plant is Teesdale’s biggest employer, with about 800 people working there. It is not known exactly how many jobs would be created by a new factory.

Earlier in the month, it was thought that GSK would build its new biopharmaceutical plant in Asia or the US, but the money will now be spent in the UK after last week’s Government unveiling of the Patent Box scheme – which cuts tax on profits made from UK patents.

The other possible sites for the factory are in Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, and Ulverston, in Cumbria.

A spokesman from the GSK plant in Barnard Castle said: “It is far too early to say when or where a biopharm plant would be built. GSK will consider a range of options as its pipeline of new biopharmaceutical products progresses and as implementation of the Patent Box scheme gets closer.

“Barnard Castle is likely to be one of several locations to be considered given the similar technologies in use at the site and the technical expertise of staff.”

The Mayor of Barnard Castle John Yarker said: “It is still not certain that it will happen but it gives people a bit of hope.

“Something like this would have knock-on effects in terms of the construction side and other businesses in the area which would benefit from the investment.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .