Morningside Pharmaceuticals were proud headline sponsors of the LeicestershireLive Top 200 Companies List 2019. During the launch breakfast at the Holiday Inn, Leicester, our Chief Executive, Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, delivered a keynote speech to the business leaders, politicians and media in attendance.

Here are extracts from Dr Nik’s speech, which we’ve adjusted slightly into a blog on why Leicestershire has become the largest economy in the East Midlands.

“It’s clear from looking at the list that our county’s economic health is in good shape, despite the current political uncertainty.

So what are the ingredients that make Leicestershire the largest economy in the East Midlands?

An economy that’s worth £23.4 billion a year, provides almost 500,000 jobs and hosts over 42,000 businesses.

What strikes me is the sheer range of sectors which are represented. Maybe it is this diversity, which provides the answer.

This year’s list includes a number of sectors. From Manufacturing & Engineering to Retail, Construction, Advanced Logistics and Life Sciences.

Allow me to look at these sectors one by one.

Manufacturing and engineering boasts well-known brands such as Caterpillar and Samworth Brothers.

This sector has been investing in advanced facilities to enable them to create new technologies, as well as growing their supply chains.

They have also built great links with local colleges to help develop the skills they need. This is essential, if we are going to plug the county’s skills gap.

A large number of our top businesses come from the Retail sector, which includes household names such as Next, Sytner Group and Dunelm.

These companies choose Leicestershire because we have the capabilities, people, heritage and entrepreneurial spirit to succeed.

Construction businesses once again dominate this year’s list with Barratt Developments and Bloor Investments both making the top 5.

The reasons for this growth may include our growing population, the Government’s Help to Buy Scheme and the demand for new homes.

Advanced logistics is another buoyant sector that includes Ceva Logistics and Pall-Ex Group.

Logistics businesses thrive here because of Leicestershire’s central location. East Midlands Airport is also the UK’s busiest pure cargo airport, which is great for exporting.

Our Life Sciences sector includes my company Morningside Pharmaceuticals, as well as Thermo Fisher and Myoderm.

The life sciences sector’s priorities include international trade and export, as well as investing in R & D. To ensure this sector continues to grow; it would be great to see more collaboration between the public sector, business and our three local universities.

Lastly, and this is one for the future: SPACE.

Our future top 200 companies may very well be made up of businesses which specialise in creating groups of satellites. This future focus is coming alive with Space Park Leicester.

This will become a global hub for the UK space industry in years to come.

All of these sectors and businesses clearly emphasise the sheer diversity of our local economy.

It will be this diversity that will ensure our companies continue to adapt to economic changes, and our local economy continues to prosper.

Regional Role of Leicestershire’s Economy

It is also important to reflect on the key role that Leicestershire’s economy and companies play regionally.

In the Midlands our companies are a crucial part of the Midlands Engine.

It has ambitious targets to create 300,000 new jobs and £34 billion worth of growth, over the next 15 years.

Leicestershire’s contribution to the Engine was nicely summed up in PwC’s 2018 Growth Cities’ report.

The report ranked Leicester as Number 10 in the annual list of the best cities to live and work.

The recent Leicester Innovation Week and the Leicestershire Live Innovation Awards were also a great success.

They show that the green shoots for success, and our future Top 200, are already emerging.

However, we need to maximise the potential of the great innovations being developed here.

Leading to the manufacture of the final products in Leicestershire as well.”

Leicestershire County Cricket Club’s medical centre will continue to be at the forefront of sports science and medicine after renewing the naming rights with Morningside Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to the creation of the Morningside Medical Centre at the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road, players and visitors were treated offsite for injuries or if they fell ill, which put added pressure on the club and emergency services when treatment was urgently needed.

Since Morningside Pharmaceuticals’ sponsorship began in 2016, LCCC has continued to make advancements in sports science and medicine. This has enabled the club to remain at the forefront of using innovative new technology and systems to ensure players, staff and the local community’s health and wellbeing are given the best support possible.

One player to have benefited from the state-of-the-art medical facilities is Club Captain, Paul Horton, who said: “As a player it’s crucial we have the facilities onsite to treat and rehabilitate us, as we need to stay on the field as much as possible.

“The cricket season is demanding and can take its toll on the players’ bodies. Crucially we need to keep as many players fit and fresh as possible, in order to compete, as injuries can have a real impact on our chances of success.”

According to LCCC’s Head of Sports Science and Medicine, Will Garvey, the medical centre has enabled the club to deliver improvements in the physical development of young cricketers and the rehabilitation of the professionals.

Mr Garvey said: “Morningside Pharmaceuticals’ continued support over recent years has enabled us to develop the facilities and equipment allowing the Sport Science and Medicine (SS&M) Team to deliver high standards of care for the first team, our academy and supporters.

“These high-quality onsite facilities have enabled us to progress the rehabilitation of our injured athletes by increasing the access we have to a usable and functional training environment. Furthermore, this ability to access the onsite facilities allows our SS&M Team to deliver individualised treatments at any time and enables our players to consistently train all year round.”

For Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, Chief Executive of Morningside Pharmaceuticals and an active member of the club, the medical centre aligns well with his company’s values.

Dr Kotecha said: “Morningside Pharmaceuticals has been built upon the mission of making quality healthcare an affordable and accessible reality throughout the world.

“For this reason we’re a passionate supporter of a wide range of good causes connected to community, education, health and sport. We’re also committed to working with communities to bring them together and improving the quality of life of the people living there.”

LCCC Chief Executive Karen Rothery added: “We are delighted to extend our long-standing partnership with Morningside Pharmaceuticals.

“We pride ourselves on player and community care, the continued support of Dr Kotecha and his team will allow us to do that. The continued collaboration will ensure players maintain access to state-of-the-art equipment to examine injuries, improve player welfare and career longevity.”

Morningside Pharmaceuticals would like to wish Eid Mubarak to all visitors who are celebrating.

To celebrate Eid Al Fitr we hosted a traditional buffet lunch for colleagues in our offices at our Loughborough Distribution Centre.

Morningside Pharmaceuticals is committed to celebrating diversity, and ensuring all religious festivals, which are important to our employees, are celebrated each year.

Our colleagues come from different cultural backgrounds and we recognise that each individual’s experiences help create a more vibrant and knowledgeable working environment.

Eid Al Fitr is a huge celebration in the Islamic calendar, commemorating the end of the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic Calendar and the holiest, filled with extra prayer, fasting and charitable deeds.

The month begins when the crescent Moon is sighted, and this can vary from country to country. It ends when a month later the crescent Moon is spotted – and the festival of Eid al Fitr begins.

Morningside Pharmaceuticals’ CEO Dr Nik Kotecha OBE is proud to be a Department for International Trade (DIT) Export Champion. Export Champions are experienced professionals who donate their time to help businesses, which are looking to export globally.  

In this blog, written in support of the work of the DIT, Dr Kotecha shares his experiences and advice about doing business in Africa with companies connected to the healthcare and life sciences sector. 

“In the 30 years Morningside Pharmaceuticals has been doing business in Africa, we have seen some fantastic opportunities and faced some challenges. We started exporting to Africa in the 1990s and have moved on from the days of fax machines and phone calls to emails and websites. And export growth in antibiotics, oncology drugs and orthopaedic appliances are just some areas where growth continues.

In fact, orthopaedic appliance exports to Kenya, which include hearing aids, crutches and prosthetic limbs increased by 204% from 2017 to 2018, and by 485% in the same timeframe to Ethiopia. Meanwhile, Antibiotics exports to Ghana increased by 8498.3% in the same period showing there is demand for medical technologies and medicines.

1) In-market expertise

It is now easier than ever to make initial contact in market. We have worked closely with the Department for International Trade, and previously when it was UKTI, joining trade missions with other business people so that we could meet contacts face-to-face with an expert on hand.

Relationship building is crucial when doing business in Africa, and face-to-face meetings are so important to build trust and find the most appropriate partner or agent to help you navigate the political and cultural sensitivities of different parts of the continent. The value of a business card and good contacts should not be underestimated.

2) Paperwork, supply chains and money

Ensuring you have the correct documentation for the country you are trading with is essential, and this varies greatly. Your products must also be shipped with the correct documents to ensure that they do not get stuck in customs. And these requirements differ, some will need pre-shipment inspections, while others have document legalisation.

Getting paid, legal issues including intellectual property, regulations, foreign exchange, transport and logistics are also areas where having a suitable agent can mitigate risks.

Supply chain fragmentation is one issue that came up recently at the UK East Africa Health Summit I attended on May 27. There is often an excessive number of intermediaries between the facility where the medicine is manufactured and the dispensing outlet.

3) Opportunities and development

However, supply chains also offer an investment opportunity to UK businesses. Quality medicines require secure transportation and a temperature-controlled environment, and adequate transportation and storage are crucial to maintain quality products. There are multiple opportunities for the private sector and UK business to invest in the infrastructure around the whole supply chain.

Also discussed at the summit was counterfeit or fake medicines. It is anticipated that fake anti-malarials contributed to 116,000 additional deaths a year from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The private sector has an opportunity to invest in innovations such as 2D barcoding and tamper-evident packaging.

Although it is easier for UK suppliers to export to systems that are modelled on the NHS instead of those that are market-lead, countries such as Kenya and Rwanda reflect a more favourable health system maturity, as emerging systems are currently investing heavily in improving local health services.

My advice would be to see it, touch it and do it. There is no better time to export your product to Africa as their healthcare and life sciences sectors grow.”