Leamington selected as location for one of two new UK Covid-19 testing 'mega-labs' - it could create 2,000 jobs

Leamington has been selected as the home to one of two new 'mega-labs' in the UK for large scale Covid-19 diagnostic testing.

This could create up to 2,000 jobs in the local area.

Today (Monday November 16) the Government have announced that the Warwickshire lab will be one of the largest diagnostic facilities in the UK and will play a key role in the drive towards increasing national testing capacity. The other lab will be based in Scotland.

The laboratories will, in the immediate term, be dedicated to Covid-19 testing for the National Testing Programme and when at full capacity, each lab will be able to process up to 300,000 tests a day.

A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council said: "The Leamington laboratory will create up to 2,000 new jobs in the area once fully staffed and operating 24/7, including jobs in the associated manufacturing and supply chain. 

"It is anticipated that the new facility will open in early 2021.

"There will be a range of new on-site jobs ranging from scientists and lab technicians to administrative and warehouse roles, bringing a huge boost for local employment and supply chain businesses.

"This is not the first time since the pandemic began that the county has been at the forefront of the national Covid response.

"Warwickshire County Council was one of 11 beacon councils that was selected to lead the pilot of the test and trace programme in May and more recently, Warwick District Council supported the pop-up walk-in test and trace centre to be situated in its car park at Court Street in Old Town, Leamington Spa."

Talking about the investment into Warwickshire, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, Councillor Izzi Seccombe said: “We welcome the announcement made by the Government today. Warwickshire remains a strategically located destination within the UK for investment and the Government announcement to build a new diagnostic testing laboratory here reinforces that.

“The new facility will play an important role in the region’s recovery, bringing with it up to 2,000 jobs providing a much-needed boost to our economy. But it is also testament to the work that has gone into making Warwickshire such a standard bearer of technology and innovation. We have a wide range of cutting-edge enterprises based in the county and a tremendous pipeline of talent with two universities close by; to be selected once again by the Government to lead such a critical piece of work, demonstrates the trust and the confidence that our reputation brings.”

Leader of Warwick District Council, Cllr Andrew Day adds: “This new diagnostic laboratory gives a big boost for our local Recovery Plan, offering up to 2,000 people with a broad range of skillsets, entry level jobs to highly specialised roles and managerial positions - details can be found at https://www.ttlaboratoryjobs.com/.

"Leamington Spa is an attractive destination for technologically advanced schemes and this important new laboratory has our full support.

"Warwick District Council has aided the planning processes to work speedily and assisted with the provision of convenient car-parking facilities to ensure that the benefits of this important new national facility will be felt locally for many years to come.”

A spokesperson for the University of Warwick said: "The university has been asked if we can help with this initiative and we have offered our full support. We believe that we can provide significant assistance that will be crucial to getting the mega lab up and running quickly and effectively.

"We are currently running our own Covid-19 test and trace programme for symptomatic Warwick staff and students, and we are also proactively preparing to support the recent government announcement that they intend to provide universities with testing kits for the mass asymptomatic testing of our students.

"We also already provide Warwick staff and facilities to support the Covid-19 testing work of a partner hospital.

"Even with those pre-existing Covid-19 testing commitments we believe that we can also play a key role in the success of this mega lab project.

"As one of the UK’s leading research led universities we have a significant number of staff and research students with laboratory skills, and experience in the establishment and operation of laboratory spaces, and we are already working closely with the team looking to establish the mega lab."