Driving microbial innovation

Through strong leadership, customer-centric growth, and a long-term vision for R&D, NCIMB is poised to deliver microbial solutions that address some of society’s biggest challenges—from decarbonisation to healthy living.

Award winners

A recent award win has shone a spotlight on their exceptional team and innovative expansion into biotechnology applications. NCIMB won the Business Leadership Award at Scotland’s Life Sciences Awards in Glasgow.

Edward Green Chief Executive at NCIMB said:

“I lead an amazing team of microbiology experts who pride themselves on quality and customer service, and their commitment has been central to NCIMB’s recent success. Winning the award has provided a big boost to the team and recognises their hard work and dedication.”

Company Journey

NCIMB’s journey began over 40 years ago as a spin-out from the University of Aberdeen—making it one of the original life sciences pioneers in the region. NCIMB has grown into one of the UK’s most respected microbiology service providers, offering microbial identification, testing, and safe and secure storage of customer’s important research and production strains.

Most recently, the business relocated to a fully owned, purpose-built facility near Aberdeen Airport. This strategic move supported the growth of their core service lines and laid the foundation for an exciting new business venture. Drawing from the UK’s largest commercially available collection of bacterial strains, NCIMB launched a biotechnology-focused line to support industries such as renewable chemicals, microbial therapeutics, and sustainable food and feed production—areas with rapidly growing global demand.

What’s next for NCIMB

NCIMB is committed to innovation and their plan is to invest heavily in research and development over the longer term to deploy their unique microbial platform for delivering impactful microbial solutions that address grand societal challenges including decarbonisation, healthy living and climate change. Next steps involve building research and develop capability and the recruitment of team to accelerate commercialisation.

ONE has created a fantastic focal point for life sciences in the region

“Our customer base includes many pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, but they are not based in Aberdeen. We are keen to build a local customer base and the monthly networking meet-up Bio Buzz at ONE BioHub provides us with an opportunity to promote NCIMB and engage with potential partners. The lab facilities at ONE BioHub also provides us with an opportunity to grow the business.”

Our advice to other businesses striving for success

“Get to know your customers! Our success with respect to our core microbiology services has been built on listening to our customers and understanding what is important to them. Feedback consistently tells us that our customers appreciate the high value of customer service that we provide.”