Month: January 2022

We were delighted to welcome Minister for Exports Mike Freer MP to our Loughborough site as part of a trip to meet the Midlands’ leading exporting businesses.

During the working lunch our former Chairman, Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, and Chief Operating Officer, Monica Huang, delivered a presentation about Morningside’s 30 years’ experience of exporting medicines globally; as well as showcased our ambitious international growth plans for the future to ‘make quality healthcare an affordable and accessible reality throughout the world’.

The Minister was also given a tour of Morningside’s facilities and logistics operations, where he was updated about our 30 years of supplying a wide-range of UK sourced quality medicines to International Aid Organisations, NGOs and charities.

We also highlighted Morningside’s exporting successes with manufacturing, registering and supplying medicines to the private and public sectors in individual countries.

During the visit Minister Freer urged British business to make more of the Government’s help on offer to support them in building overseas sales. He explained that less than 15 per cent of firms that could were selling their products and services abroad.

Minister Freer said: “I think the key messages are that only one in seven companies that can export, do, and there is a massive opportunity out there. “And if anybody thinks they want to export or talk about the opportunities then they should get in contact with our local teams. We have teams on standby who will hold their hand and help them make that first overseas sale.

“Once they’ve done it I think they’ll find it’s easier than they expected and more profitable, as we know that exporting companies are more profitable and tend to have more higher skilled jobs which is good for the local economy as well.”

At the time, Dr Kotecha, who is also a Department for International Trade (DIT) Export Champion, added: “We were delighted to welcome Minister Mike Freer MP to our Loughborough site, which like so many East Midlands businesses benefits from excellent road and rail links, as well as our proximity to the largest pure cargo airport in the UK, East Midlands Airport.

“Morningside is manufacturer and supplier of generic medicines, and has exported to more than 120 countries since inception. We’re immensely proud to be based in the East Midlands, which alongside the West Midlands is the manufacturing and exporting heartland of England.

We hope the Minister for Exports’ visit helps to highlight the excellent global opportunities available for companies based in the region, as well as opens doors to central government funding to support the future growth of our businesses and communities.”

Thank you to Minister Freer, as well as Marian Sudbury, OBE, Ian Harrison and Tash Pennant for all of the great discussions, which we hope will further support the Government’s Export Strategy and Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

Many congratulations to our Chairman Dr Nik Kotecha OBE who has won a top university accolade that celebrates the long-term achievements of outstanding alumni.

Dr Nik who is also the Founder of Morningside Pharmaceuticals has won the Distinguished Alumni Award at Imperial College London’s Alumni Awards 2022.

Read the full Imperial College London feature here.

 

The annual awards honour outstanding alumni who have demonstrated sustained excellence in their personal and professional achievements, are leaders in their field or have made a substantial impact on society.

Dr Kotecha, said: “I’m thrilled to be honoured by the university in this way. As a child growing up in Leicester my family had very little, but I was fortunate to be given opportunities to gain a good education. After finishing my degree in Newcastle; Professor Steve Ley FRS at Imperial College took a chance in accepting me into his eminent group and this really was the opportunity I needed to forge a career.

“Over three decades later, it’s truly humbling  to be recognised for my entrepreneurial journey, which was only made possible by the help and support I received to gain a good education along the way.”

Dr Kotecha studied a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Steve Ley at Imperial College, before moving to work at the University of Cambridge.

After leaving academia Dr Kotecha founded Morningside in 1991. Today the business has exported to more than 120 countries since inception and has 240 generic and branded licensed medicines in the UK and EU. In the UK the business distributes its pharmaceutical products twice daily nationwide, so they are available when doctors and their patients need them.

Nicola Pogson, Director of Alumni Relations, Imperial College London, said: “We are delighted to acknowledge the many achievements and positive impact on society of Imperial alumnus Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, an exemplary role model for our community and joint winner of the Distinguished Alumni Award 2022.”

As well as being a successful entrepreneur, Dr Kotecha also has a passion to give back and has been recognised through this award for his work to support communities in the Midlands and nationally. He is currently a Board Member for the LLEP and Midlands Engine Council, Co-Chair of the Loughborough Town Deal Board, Board Member for the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a CBI Regional Councillor and a Department for International Trade Export Champion.

Dr Kotecha’s most recent achievements have centred around the Randal Charitable Foundation, which he founded with his wife in 2017. By providing grant funding, the Foundation has already saved over 145,000 lives with an aspiration to save 1 million people in the UK and globally.