Weak pound brings Forth Photonics' manufacturing home to the UK

FORTH Photonics, the fledgling Scottish medical devices company, is to move its manufacturing back to the UK.

Pending board approval later this month, the Livingston-based firm – which sells a device to detect cervical cancer – will cease manufacture in Greece.

Stphane Sallmard, the chairman and interim chief executive of Forth, said it had identified a manufacturer in the UK and he expected to move operations in the next few months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Frenchman, a former chief executive of Dunfermline-based eye-scanning group Optos, said the weakness of sterling against the euro "absolutely" contributed to the decision, but quality, and the logistics of manufacturing internationally, were also factors.

He added: "At this stage of the company, we feel there is more advantage manufacturing close to home than in Greece, and the cost (of UK manufacturing] is not going to change dramatically."

Recent reports have claimed dozens of UK companies that have previously opted to manufacture elsewhere in the world are returning to Britain, having found the benefits were less than expected.

While a final decision will be taken at a board meeting later this month, Sallmard was confident the plans would be approved.

On Tuesday, Forth announced that Sallmard was stepping in to act as interim chief executive following the departure of Fiona Lowrie. He said this week he hoped he would be in the dual position for a "short time only".

In 2009, the company developed its strategy and raised 7 million (6.3m) for commercial development.

Forth is expecting to appoint distributors for its first product for major European regions this year, ahead of a launch in the United States

• A headline in The Scotsman yesterday indicated that Stphane Sallmard had returned as chief executive of Optos. It should have referred to his position as both acting chief executive and chairman of Forth Photonics. We apologise for the error.