Executive Summary
This report examines the market for laboratory equipment and consumable products in the UK. This market is more difficult to define than the market for medical equipment and consumables, as laboratory products are frequently used in non-laboratory settings. However, the main user sectors in the UK are the National Health Service (NHS), independent acute care, government and higher education, and the major industry sectors of pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
In 1998, the total market for laboratory equipment and consumables in the UK is estimated to be worth £1.45bn, with an annual growth of 4.6%. The largest single market sector is the pharmaceutical industry, with a 36.6% share of the total market, followed by the NHS with 28.3%. Government and higher education is the third largest market, with a 17.6% share of the total.
Growth in the public sector markets has been restricted by funding cuts and budgetary constraints — particularly in capital spending — but the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in the health sector, and the increasing partnership between industry and education, is likely to increase funding and opportunities.
In the industry sectors, the pharmaceutical industry is showing the highest growth, primarily among small to medium companies. The largest company, Glaxo Wellcome, has shown a 1% fall in research and development (R&D), principally because of consolidation after Wellcome was acquired by Glaxo. The chemicals sector is small and growing modestly, and there is concern that growth in R&D is not matching that of equivalent companies overseas.
The total market for laboratory equipment and consumables is projected to grow to £2.02bn in the year 2003, with growth fuelled mostly by the advances of a technologically driven market. The market as a whole has seen a large number of acquisitions and mergers, and is increasingly dominated by a smaller number of large companies with wide product ranges and sophisticated distribution systems.
The market for laboratory equipment and consumables in the pharmaceutical industry is predicted to reach £792bn in 2003.
Sixth Edition 1998
Edited by Dominic Fenn
ISBN 1-85765-870-1
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