Happy 6th Birthday Peak Proteins!
It has been a difficult year for everyone with the global pandemic and an incredibly sad year for many. It’s still good to celebrate though and Peak Proteins wanted to mark our 6th birthday in a low key, social distancing kind of way.
It isn’t always clear cut when a company is born but we decided our incorporation day was the best day to commemorate. “The inspiration for setting up the company was getting together a group of like-minded people who really, really enjoyed research”, commented Dr Mark Abbott, Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The 15th of October 2014 in many ways seems a long time ago. And yet it has flown by”.
Mark was joined by two ex-AstraZeneca colleagues, Dr Tina Howard, Chief Operating Officer and Dr Derek Ogg, Chief Scientific Officer who became directors of the company.
“We started in a very small laboratory in Alderley Park with nothing; no equipment or consumables. Our first invoice was sent out on 10th July 2015”, remembered Mark.
Ian Hampton was the first employee and since then the business has grown from strength to strength. Ian is a very experienced cell scientist who knows the three main expression systems inside out. He is still a very valued member of the team. The business now employs 24 scientists.
“At the heart of Peak Proteins is the science. We enjoy understanding how proteins function and how they can be manipulated to generate value to drug discovery companies”, said Mark.
The business has tripled its turnover in the past three years and in recent months has significantly expanded its customer base in the US.
Derek added, “We have grown this year too despite the tough business conditions. Our whole team has pulled together and worked incredibly hard to operate within the restrictions and make everything function effectively”.
“The pandemic has proved challenging. Socially distancing in the laboratory has taken some incredibly careful working out. We’ve moved twice this year and almost doubled our laboratory space,” remarked Tina.
“There is no question about it, creating a business has its ups and downs. A business is always demanding but 6 years on I can honestly say I have the same goal now that I did then – to provide our clients with the proteins and structural determination grounded in real research that solves real problems that drug discovery companies and institutions, big and small, face every day”, added Mark.
The team got together for tea, coffee, and cake in the afternoon and snuffed out the candle (no blowing on birthday cakes at the moment). The Nutella cakes baked by Tina were enjoyed by all.
