Expansion in store for life sciences firm Arrayjet

Roslin-based Arrayjet has grown its headcount to 25, with three further roles to be created this year. Picture: Contributed

The Roslin-based firm, which last year secured a £650,000 injection in a funding round led by business angel syndicate Archangel Investors, has created seven jobs to take its total headcount to 25 and is set to bring in three more engineers later this year.

The hiring drive comes as Arrayjet, which is led by chief executive Iain McWilliam and specialises in “microarray” printing services used for medical screening, gears up to launch a new product next year for its bio-printing technologies.

David Crabb joins as chief engineer, with Maya Kowalewska arriving as application scientist and Catriona Ford as senior applications scientist. They are joined by Ranald Pringle, commercial manager for Europe and the Middle East, Gavin Boothroyd, commercial manager for North America, Andrew Tomlins, commercial manager for Asia Pacific and administrative assistant Stephanie Kennedy.

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The firm, which has seen its revenues grow 25 per cent year-on-year, exports its technology to 27 countries and McWilliam said it was on a “very sound” financial footing following its recent funding round, which also included a contribution from economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.

“An appetite for new business and a belief in our business model underpinned 2016 as a year in which we continued a programme of successful expansion,” said McWilliam.

“Arrayjet is on a very sound footing as a profitable, expanding, Scottish-based and international player in the biomedical sector.”

In March, the firm landed a deal with the New York Bioscience Cluster in a move it described as a major boost. The Bronx-based bioscience cluster has a wide research programme for diseases and disorders related to immunology cancer, diabetes, liver function and a raft of other areas. Much of this work will be assisted by Arrayjet’s bio-printer in a contract worth about £200,000.

As well as its new hires, existing staff at the company have been given added responsibility for new territories, with business development executive Saloni Sonawala splitting her role to include new business opportunities across the Indian subcontinent, while Russell Brown now oversees its commercial operations.

Archangels co-founder Mike Rutterford said: “Arrayjet remains one of the shining beacons within the Scottish life sciences industry and the new appointments, healthy international order book and, most importantly, the vision to establish and grow new territories underlines just how vital this business is to the life sciences landscape in Scotland.”

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