Pharmaceutical and health product specialist group Wasdell has created more than 100 additional jobs since last November in order to fulfil new contracts for products to combat Covid-19.

New contract wins to produce packaging for several products, including antiseptics used in healthcare settings, during the Covid-19 pandemic have meant the group needed more staff in a number of different disciplines.

Chief operating officer Daniel Tedham said the company is proud to be playing a vital part in fighting transmission of the coronavirus.

“Since March 2020 the demand for antiseptics for use in both household and medical settings has rocketed, and as one of Europe’s largest independent suppliers to the pharmaceutical industry we have put enormous efforts into trying to meet that demand,”

said Tedham.

“Fortunately, Swindon has a lot of talent and experience that we could draw on, and we have been able to fill the new posts quite swiftly.”

The newly created jobs included quality assurance specialists, mechanical engineers, production line leaders and coordinators.

Since mid-2020 Wasdell has also invested more than £640,000 in inspection equipment to remain at the cutting edge of patient safety world-wide.

The equipment includes a vision inspection system that is able to spot if essential information is missing from labels, a highly accurate counter that ensures dosages in containers are precise, and a system that automatically identifies any anomalies in tablets and capsules, so that any that are damaged or incomplete are immediately withdrawn from the production line.