A GREENFIELD firm regarded as one of Europe’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of laboratory and medical equipment, has risen to an unprecedented challenge to assist in the frontline fight against Covid-19 as well as forging ahead with ambitious growth and redevelopment plans amid the global pandemic.

LTE Scientific specialises in the manufacture, supply and service/testing of medical and laboratory equipment including autoclaves (devices that use steam to sterilise), medical sterilisers, endoscope drying/storage and decontamination solutions plus a wide range of laboratory thermal equipment.

It provides cutting-edge equipment renowned for its extreme efficiency and reliability and expert after-sales support for UK and international clients across a range of sectors including hospitals, pharmaceutical, biotech, research laboratories, universities, veterinary practice, agri-food, drink and automotive component sectors.

LTE recently carried out an impressive two-day turnaround to supply and install a specialist autoclave to allow the urgent launch of Covid-19 testing at a laboratory in Alderley Park, Cheshire - a science park offering the widest range of scientific services in the UK.

It has kept up with demand and production throughout the virus outbreak to enable it to continue to supply its essential equipment and service to healthcare providers and laboratories across the UK.

Despite an extremely tough economic climate with severe uncertainty facing businesses across many sectors, LTE says it is bucking the trend thanks to its market-place resilience and recognition of the dedication of its core asset workforce.

And the firm is pushing forward with its investment and expansion plans to ensure it continues to be an international market leader.

LTE is extremely proud of its field of highly skilled employees – many of which are long-serving - who have helped to carve out the firm’s success over the years.

This is reflected in the announcement of a number of key internal promotions across all departments and on-going investment in training and recruitment.

Externally LTE has appointed Zoe Turner as operations manager to oversee its quality department. Zoe brings more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing works and operations management to her new role at LTE.

Current team members selected to enhance the drive for staff development and company growth boast a combined LTE employment history of over 130 years.

Alison Fox has been promoted to production planning manager following her previous role as a production planning assistant. She has been with LTE for over five years and has honed her skills by working closely with out-going production planning manager Sarah Gill, who retires at the end of June, after 34 years’ service with LTE.

A new Service Management Team (SMT) has been created to further develop the rapid service growth experienced by LTE with several employees being transferred from other departments to deal with demand and bolster the capacity.

Steve Neville has been promoted to field service manager on the back of his 19 years’ experience in supporting clients across the country as a senior field service engineer.

Other SMT members include Alice Higginbottom, who, with over 25 years’ experience, will continue in her role as service administration manager and Lee Kershaw, who has been with the company for 35 years, is continuing in his role as technical support manager.

Danny Brear will join the SMT, taking on the role of deputy UKAS technical manager who will be responsible for software developments on products, reporting, and assisting with UKAS.

Also joining the SMT is Adam Pugh who will continue his senior engineer role while taking on LTE’s product specialist position to oversee third party product knowledge. He will relay his insight and information the firm’s 15-strong team of service engineers.

Darren Bottomley has taken over the role of sales manager with responsibility of coordinating the sales office, UK sales team and export team. Formerly the northern area sales manager - and instrumental in rapid turnaround laboratory autoclave to aid COVID-19 testing - Darren celebrates 10 years of service with LTE this year.

Sarah Clegg, who has been with the company for 33 years, will become finance manager, with responsibility for the preparation of monthly management accounts, in addition to her current IT and human resources management roles.

John Lees, managing director at LTE Scientific, said: “We want to congratulate everyone involved in these latest appointments, thank our long-serving staff for their contributions over many years and welcome our new operations manager, Zoe.

“We wish them all every success and look forward to the positive contribution they will make to the further growth and development at LTE Scientific.

“We are keen to promote staff development across all departments for the further as the company continues to grow.

“We have enjoyed strong performances over the years and built a leading reputation for excellent products, after-sales service, and building strong relationships with our clients.

“This year’s Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted our outstanding products and service and the collaborative ethos between our different departments.

“Thanks to an extremely strong order book we have remained fully operational throughout the coronavirus pandemic in continuing to supply essential equipment and service to laboratories and healthcare providers.

“We are extremely proud of our team’s resilience and dedicated performance during this uncertain time. Staff have followed coronavirus safety guidelines while continuing to operate highly efficiently and professionally. We thank everyone in all departments across the company for such excellent service.”