Waters begins construction of new Wilmslow facility

Waters has broken ground on its new mass spectrometry facility construction project in Wilmslow during a commemorative ceremony.

The company has officially commenced work on the new site, which is located three miles south of Manchester Airport and will unite Waters' existing mass spectrometry operations, currently located on four separate sites in south Manchester and Altrincham.

Work on the new facility is expected to be completed in 2014, with the creation of state-of-the-art customer demonstration laboratories, research and development capabilities and an expanded manufacturing capacity all part of the plan.

Chancellor George Osborne was on hand to place the ceremonial spade in the ground at the ceremony, while a copper beech tree was planted to mark the occasion.

Brian Smith, vice-president of mass spectrometry business operations at Waters, said: "Science is such a major contributor to the history of Manchester and we are honoured to be writing a new chapter in its rich heritage with our custom-built headquarters in Wilmslow."

This comes after the firm allied with the UK Food and Environment Research Agency to develop an international food safety training laboratory last week.