Hoddesdon site regeneration provides boost for local firms

Pharmaron’s Hoddesdon site has seen plenty of activity since the company bought it from Merck Sharpe & Dohme in 2017.

The acquisition provided the ideal opportunity for Pharmaron to develop its integrated drug discovery and CMC (Chemistry Manufacturing and Control) collaborations – in short, taking a drug molecule and working out the most effective ways of conducting research and development on it so it can eventually be brought onto the commercial market.

With many of these projects undertaken with other partners, Pharmaron has made efforts to forge links in the local business community and build an infrastructure on site that would attract people to come and work there.

The original corporate catering contract was operated by the former site owner and subsequently determined that it was no longer meeting needs, so set about building connections with local companies in a bid to launch a new and different restaurant service on the site. Rob Stone, Pharmaron’s Engineering and Facilities Director (UK), explains: “Following leads from the Herts Chamber, we got in touch with Dave Cordell, who owns the highly successful Smokeshed Bar & Grill in Hoddesdon. He said he’d be very interested in running our restaurant service but would need time to set up. Through another contact provided, we organised for Fiona Copley of Copleys Food & Events to run an interim takeaway cafe service.

The new restaurant service is expected to be operational in March. It will be run by Dave Cordell and Claudio Fattore, a former Executive Head Chef from contract catering specialist Bartlett Mitchell, under a new venture called Street Market Kitchen Ltd. The service will benefit Pharmaron’s 200 plus Hoddesdon-based staff, as well as contractors and visitors to the site.

“We may be a company with a global reach but we’re very much part of the community here in Hoddesdon – as our work with Smokeshed and Copleys Food & Events testifies. It’s good to generate business locally and that’s why we support the Chamber’s Let’s Keep the Heart in Hertfordshire campaign.”