As Sterilin celebrates its 50th birthday, Alison Smith looks back at the company’s strong pioneering heritage in the field of single-use laboratory disposables and how this has provided the perfect springboard for the future.
The birth of Sterilin, 50 years ago, was an exciting time during which the concept of disposable laboratory plastics was revolutionary, bringing new levels of convenience and flexibility to laboratory routines; replacing the time-consuming and costly task of washing and autoclaving glassware.
It was in 1960, that one of the founders of Sterilin, Richard Tait (then sales manager for B J Hamlin – an importer of semi-finished plastic products) first captured this vision. As a result of his enthusiasm, Hamlin diversified into laboratory products by importing disposable plastic Petri dishes from Sweden.
An early letter to the Department of Health quoted just over £7 per case of 500 plates (seven pounds, five shillings and ten pence, to be exact!). Today, 50 years later, this would be equivalent to around £75 per case – the fact that Sterilin is able to offer such products for much less than this clearly demonstrates the company’s strong commitment to offering good value to customers.
Competitive edge
In the mid-1960s, Hamlin was granted a licence to manufacture Petri dishes and a new company was formed – Sterilin (from ‘sterile’ and ‘Hamlin’). Integral to the business at this time were Richard Tait, his brother Thomas, and Mike Kreuzer. The strategy of the company, from very early on, was to invest in faster, more-efficient equipment and processes to give it a competitive edge in the market place.
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.