Last updated at 13:51, Tuesday, 08 May 2012

THIS week I met Greig Rooney, site director at Glaxo in Ulverston.

AMY FENTON

Having followed the £350m biopharm facility story since December 2009, when GSK first announced the plans, I was disappointed I had been unable to visit the Ulverston plant on the day it was announced as the location for the investment.

And I have to admit that I, like some others I’m sure, had started to fear Ulverston would miss out.

The Scottish government turned up the heat on the ‘competition’ to offer tax-break benefits to companies investing in a newly-created enterprise zone at Irvine – one of the competing sites.

So it was with great delight, and perhaps some disbelief, to be told on the day before David Cameron’s visit and the official announcement, that Ulverston had ‘won’.

Regardless of the Glaxo board’s attempts to distance the company from any competition between the four sites, a competition it was, and nothing could have compared with the sense of achievement and excitement felt after Glaxo revealed Ulverston had beaten Montrose, Irvine and Barnard Castle. When I interviewed Greig – a former production director at Montrose, I asked him if he had felt any kind of tied loyalty, now being the site director at Ulverston.

Was his instant reaction of delight for Ulverston mixed with disappointment for Montrose?

But as Greig pointed out – after revealing his feelings for Ulverston were not hampered by any loyalty towards Montrose, the biggest win was for UK manufacturing. A strong advocate, Greig firmly believes British is best.

“Above anything, it was good news for British manufacturing,” he told me.

“It’s a huge investment that is brilliant for the industry.

“In the UK we have great people with great minds and that’s the differentiator – the innovation and the can-do attitude to make things happen.

“The continuous drive to improve sets us apart and we do it with the right standards.”

Finally, the latest edition of our county-wide business magazine, in-Cumbria, has been printed.

If you can’t wait to get a hard copy, the digital version is available at www.in-Cumbria.com and features a host of South Cumbrian features – including an exclusive interview with the three brothers who own Lakeland (cover story), a piece on Brian and Tony Keen and stories on Acrastyle in Ulverston, Barrow glass artist Heather Gillespie and Kimberly-Clark’s paper mill ... not forgetting a four-page spread on Glaxo. Follow me at @amythejourno

First published at 13:26, Tuesday, 08 May 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk