Queen’s Award for Abcam highlights business success

18 August 2005 Antibody reagents company Abcam has once again demonstrated the strength of its business by winning a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise. 

At a presentation ceremony at the company’s newly opened UK headquarters on the Cambridge Science Park, HM Lord Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire Hugh Duberly CBE praised Abcam for its exceptional export achievement.  Since its launch as a one-man supplier of antibodies to the Cambridge-based research community in 1998, Abcam has grown to over 80 employees and is now one of the world’s largest suppliers of antibody reagents.

Dr Jonathan Milner, Abcam’s group chief executive (far right) receives a commemorative Queen’s Award for Enterprise glass bowl from Lord Lt for Cambridgeshire Hugh Duberly CBE.  Also in the picture are Dr David Cleevely, Abcam’s chairman (left) and Jim Warwick, UK managing director.

The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is widely recognised as the premier award for business performance in the UK and is granted annually for outstanding business achievement.  Entering the scheme for the first time, Abcam was one of only a few Bioscience companies to win one of the coveted awards in the International Trade category.  To win the award Abcam demonstrated year-on-year growth in overseas sales between 2002 and 2004, with 84% of sales during these three years coming from overseas customers.  

Commenting, Jonathan Milner, Abcam’s Group Chief Executive and Founder, said: “Winning this award is a real tribute to the hard work that all our staff have put in over the past three years.  We have grown our exports to over 80 percent of turnover and now do business in over 60 countries.  That’s a tremendous effort for a company of Abcam’s age and size.” 

The award success coincides with Jonathan Milner’s return to the UK as Group Chief Executive having spent the previous year overseeing the rapid growth of the company’s USA office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.   

Within the past few months, Abcam has also moved to new premises on the Cambridge Science Park.  The new home is the company's third on the Science Park and, at 13,000 sq ft, double the size of the previous unit. A significantly larger laboratory area has allowed Abcam to extend both the scope of its product characterisation and further increase the number of products available to customers. Larger premises also mean that new members of staff can be recruited to maintain Abcam's technical and customer service edge in the market place.

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About Abcam

Abcam was founded in 1998 to supply bioscientists with specialist research products, particularly antibodies (essential tools, enabling them to analyse the components of living cells at the molecular level).  The company has grown strongly to over 80 employees and now has customers in over 50 countries and it is now recognised as one of the leading companies in its field.  The future is growth for Abcam as it continues to expand using its proven product development, marketing and customer service performance, including exciting areas such as Neuroscience, Nuclear Signaling and Stem Cells. 

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