Our Christmas Story
Reflecting back on this strangest of years, 2020, and celebrating our 6th birthday as a company in October, we thought we would wrap-up the year with our own Christmas story.
In our story, we’re also on a journey, not following a star, but a vision of what we want Peak Proteins to be, a vibrant company delivering high quality services to one and all.
Our story didn’t start with three wise men, but two in fact; Mark Abbott, our CEO, having the idea for setting up a company, alongside Ian Hampton, a trusted ex-pharma colleague who helped Mark flesh out the plan and set up the first laboratory here at Alderley Park. Two other wise ‘men’, or in our case, men and women, Derek Ogg (CSO) and Tina Howard (COO) joined the merry duo and Peak Proteins was officially born (or generating some income at least).
And what has that journey looked like over the last 6 years? Well for a start, the number of employees has certainly grown as shown by the number of ‘presents’ or persons here ‘present’ in the company shown below (no more corny jokes other than those in the protein crackers). Even in these difficult, COVID months, it’s been fantastic to be able to employee 10 new people, and six in the last four months! One of our main challenges this year was finding more lab space to allow everyone to work safely but thankfully for us, there was more room at the inn and we didn’t end up in a stable!
Many of the team have come to us, not from the East (unless you count Huddersfield), but with a drug discovery background and experience which has been put to good use at Peak Proteins. The numbers of projects we have delivered has trebled since 2016 and this year alone we have had the pleasure (or in some cases challenge!) of working with over 42 different protein types, some of which are shown on the ‘branches’ of our Christmas tree. This variety is what makes our jobs interesting and the experience gained in delivering such a diverse set of reagents and, in some cases protein structures, is like gold, frankincense and myrrh i.e. invaluable!
And as with the baby’s birth, news of Peak Proteins has spread far and wide, often through word of mouth, recommendations….and the efforts of our BD team of course! It’s been a real milestone for us this year to establish stronger connections and business with some US biotechs, although looking at the map, there’s still a place for some heralding angels to spread the word further!
If we could sum up what has been the key to our success to date (based on client feedback…) we think it would be our simple but effective values as a business:
- Having a great team of skilled scientists who know what they are doing – having the right skills and experience is paramount to delivering a great service.
- Taking the time to listen carefully to what our clients need, doing our homework into the best way to progress their projects and generating a well-thought out proposal.
- Being transparent and honest in what we do – if it’s not working, we won’t hide it, but do our best to work through the issues with you.
So, as this unforgettable year draws to a close, a big thank you all our clients, past and present for their continued business and support. We wish everyone a peaceful and healthy New Year – and who knows we might actually see you at a face to face conference before too long!
If you would like to discuss any project ideas for 2021 with us then please just email us at info@peakproteins.com or fill in our contact form on the web-site.
