News
Case study: In-depth process understanding to underpin a continuous bioprocess technology platform
A new in-depth case study describes how Britest helped CellRev, an innovative solutions provider in controlling cell-to-cell and cell-to-surface attachment, to capture critical process understanding enabling inter-company technology transfer with their development partner for a new continuous manufacturing platform.
Haz Study 1 - you shall go to the ball!
A new article by Britest's Rob Peeling reflects in light hearted fashion upon the early prevention opportunities presented by the sometimes undervalued "Cinderella of Safety", the Hazard Study 1.
We're growing! New faces at Britest
Britest is delighted to welcome three new faces to the team this autumn! Find out how we are growing our business and service capabilities.
New framework for early-stage sustainability assessment of innovation projects published
A new open peer-review publication from Britest details a new framework for early-stage sustainability assessment of innovation projects and an enabling multi-criteria decision analysis methodology handling uncertainty in the evaluation of the options considered.
New 'Research to Impact' training offering from Britest
Britest is pleased to introduce a new training offering in the form of an interactive one-day event helping post-graduates and early-stage researchers explore the concept of research ‘impact’ and how they can achieve it as inidivduals and within groups.
New Chief Executive Officer for Britest
Britest Limited would like to announce that, as of 1st April 2024, Dr Kirk Malone will become Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and will join the Board of Britest as Executive Director.
Opportunities for process intensification in nuclear effluent treatment
A recent publication co-authored by Britest reviews precipitators, adsorbers and separators as technological opportunities for process intensification in nuclear effluent treatment.
Welcome news on UK participation in Horizon Europe
Britest is delighted by the announcement of political agreement on the UK's participation in Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship research, and innovation programme.
Early Career Researchers' Event October 2023
Britest's Early Career Researchers’ Event is a chance to build a profile within a friendly community of shared interest, get new ideas and fresh perspectives on common challenges, and to start shaping future collaborations.
New appointment - Britest welcomes Kirk Malone
Britest Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Kirk Malone as Commercial Director from 01 May 2023.
New publication - Setting commercialisation objectives for sustainable innovation
A new paper by Britest's Rob Peeling describes a methodology for setting commercialisation objectives for sustainability in an innovative project
New year, new skills?
Britest is providing online training in core Britest Tools and Facilitation Skills over the course of four Monday afternoons in January and February 2023.
Forthcoming training opportunities - update your diary!
Britest is delighted to be cooperating once again with Scientific Update to provide opportunities for scientists, engineers and others to build their skills and knowledge in a range of topic targeted courses founded in process understanding
Britest Sustainability toolkit poster available
A poster recently presented by Britest exemplifies some new and improved approaches towards holistic qualitative and semiquantitative models for whole process understanding aligned with the needs of those in the chemical, biochemical and related process industries seeking to accelerate the transformation required to successfully respond to the threat of climate change
Keeping it flexible
Flexibility is increasingly recognised as a strategic driver of sustainable competitive advantage. Britest puts flexibility at the heart of our offering to deliver rapid results for our members and clients.
New collaborative project to establish safe and sustainable pharmaceutical lifecycles by design
Britest is playing a crucial linking and communications role in a a new four-year European project that will contribute to the sustainable development of pharmaceuticals, by using and promoting lifecycle approaches to their design, manufacture, usage, and disposal
Robert Peeling to Chair IChemE Congress
Britest Senior Innovation Specialist Rob Peeling has just been elected as the new Chair of Congress for the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).
Circular Plastics online training tool
New training tool for circular plastics available from Britest Britest has produced a self-guided online training tool drawing on the activities and findings of the recently concluded MultiCycle EU Innovation Action to support capacity building in industry and in education to promote the
Plant Changeover and Cleaning webinar
Free webinar - Join Britest's Rob Peeling on Thursday 10th February at 1400 GMT as he reflects on opportunities to improve efficiency in process plant cleaning at changeovers
BatchSafe - a new tool for process safety screening
BatchSafe - a new tool for process safety screening Britest is delighted to announce the launch of a newly developed safety screening tool for solvent based batch reactions. Exclusively available to registered Britest Advocates, BatchSafe is an easy to use spreadsheet based utility that enables the
Building a Britest toolkit for Sustainable Innovation report available now
Britest's latest white paper describes the alignment of some current and future developments in the Britest approach with the needs of the process industries seeking to respond positively to climate change.
See you at NEPIC Meet the Members
Join us at NEPIC 'Meet the Members' Britest is looking forward to exhibiting at NEPIC's 'Meet the Members' event taking place on Wednesday 20th October in the Grand Marquee, Wynyard Hall, Billingham, Teeside. Long-established a the North-East of England's Chemical Processing Sector event of the
New report lays out the sustainability benefits of remote service delivery
A new report shares Britest's experience of the challenges presented by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions along with an analysis of significant benefits quantified in terms of time, money, and emissions saved, and new possibilities created by successfully harnessing remote working and service delivery.
IPCC Sixth Assessment Report - Innovation is key
IPCC Sixth Assessment Report - Innovation is key The newly published IPPC Sixth Assessment Report lays out a clear but stark picture of climate change. It’s here already, it’s going to get worse, and human activity has unequivocally caused it. However, if human activity has got us into this
Video: LevWave - scalable platform chemicals from industrial side streams
Dr. Silvia Tedesco of Manchester Metropolitan University explains how the InnovateUK funded proof of concept project is exploring the feasibility of turning a significant industrial process side stream - paper mill sludge - into the strategically important platform chemical Levulinic Acid.
Britest support to Digital Implementation planning
A new 2-minute-to-watch video explains how Britest's roadmap for digital design development and application can be used by organisations in the chemicals-using and process industries to successfully plan for a rapid and effective business introduction of new ways of working based upon emerging digital and modelling based process design, development and control methods.
John Borland Award jointly recognizes innovations in Process Control Strategy Mapping and Virtual Collaboration
Britest is delighted to announce that our premier award recognizing significant contributions to innovation within the Britest community, has this year been jointly awarded to teams from Biogen for pioneering the development of Process Control Strategy Mapping: A Structured Approach to Identifying Process Control and Sensing Opportunities', and the Britest User Group at AstraZeneca, Macclesfield for work on 'Enabling virtual collaboration with Britest'.
Britest Process Understanding Day 2021 a virtual success
Britest's annual Process Understanding Day broke new ground by not breaking any ground after being successfully conducted for the first time as an entirely online virtual on the afternoons of Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd January 2021.
Britest tools used to improve robustness of analytical sample preparation
A new publication from Astra Zeneca Pharmaceutical Technology & Development, Operations describes how Britest process understanding tools have been successfully applied, along with experimental design, to addressing some of the challenges associated with sample preparation procedures when developing quantitative assay methods for solid-oral dosage forms.
Autumn 2020 Online Training Events: Physical Organic Chemistry Concepts and Introduction to Chemical Engineering Science
Britest is pleased to be once again working in association with Scientific Update to provide you with the scientific principles and skills that they don't teach at university, so you don't have to learn by bitter experience!
Lock-down unlocks fresh thoughts on plant cleaning
COVID-19 lockdown has turned out to be a catalyst for insightful reflection upon the subject of pharmaceutical plant cleaning operations on the part of Britest's Rob Peeling. His detailed analysis of relevant driving forces and conclusions which challenge received industrial wisdom and typical practice can be read in full in this freely available Britest white paper.
We're on the move!
Britest has a new postal address and phone number from 1st August 2020. Here's where you can reach us...
Britest and Micropore Technologies Announce Licence Agreement
Britest Limited has entered into a licensing agreement with Micropore Technologies. This allows Micropore to use a defined set of Britest’s established process understanding tools, in conjunction with their own proprietary technologies, to support their internal evaluation of potential applications of their membrane emulsification and encapsulation technology for client demonstration and general marketing purposes.
Online Britest: Turbo charging remote whole process understanding studies
Using best in class online collaboration tools can dramatically enhance the capacity of a Britest session to deliver insightful results productively and efficiently. Watch Britest's Mark Talford and Rob Peeling show you how.
Ever felt the need to think more like a Chemical Engineer? This course could be for you...
Britest is providing an essential three-day training course for R&D Scientists and Engineers from other disciplines, who want to better understand the basic principles of chemical engineering, or make more effective considerations of whole process issues. Taking place 28th-30th April in Manchester.
Article on digital information flows goes open access
Article on digital information flows goes open access A new publication describing how new digital models and approaches have been mapped onto the information workflow involved in pharmaceutical product and process design and development via a Britest-developed dedicated technical
New task library expands armoury for visually presenting processes
A new "task library" supporting the use of the Britest Process Definition Diagram (PDD) tool substantially expands the armoury of ready-made task representations available to Britest facilitators and practitioners, and helps create better PDDs faster.
Innovation award recognizes JM's use of Britest tools in hazard studies
Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 John Borland Award for Innovation: Alejandro Santana, Loretta Wong, David Johns, and Antonio Zanotti-Gerosa, from Johnson Matthey for their use of Britest tools in hazard studies for multi-purpose reconfigurable plant.
Britest Process Understanding Day 2020 - Call for Papers
Britest invites potential contributors to offer abstracts for consideration for both short oral and poster presentations at Britest Process Understanding Day 2020
Britest Annual Dinner and Process Understanding Day 2020
Join us for the Britest Annual Dinner and Britest Process Understanding Day 2020: Manchester, UK, 21st & 22nd January 2020
Training for more effective knowledge transfer between Scientists and Chemical Engineers
An essential three-day training course for R&D Scientists and Engineers from other disciplines, who want to better understand the basic principles of chemical engineering, or make more effective considerations of whole process issues
New online tool put continuous whole process design decision making in your hands
Newly released interactive tools for parallel decision making about whole process design and regulatory considerations around continuous manufacture are available now on the Britest website!
Particle Informatics: how Digital Design is advancing understanding of particle properties
A new publication arising from the ADDoPT project collaboration describes how a combination of existing and novel approaches has been applied to the assessment and prediction of particle properties intrinsic to the formulation and manufacture of pharmaceuticals via a new, robust workflow applying predictive digital design tools built around the CSD-System software suite.
Focus article on digital design for pharmaceutical product and process development
Focus article on digital design for pharmaceutical product and process development An "in-depth focus" article in the June 2019 issue of European Pharmaceutical Review looks at how Britest has been working along with others in the ADDoPT collaborative consortium to explore how emerging process
Technical facilitation provides information flow model for adoption of Digital Design approach in pharma
A dedicated technical facilitation process designed and delivered by Britest has enabled a the development of an information flow for digital design and manufacture of pharmaceuticals which is set to .be a valuable enabler for the UK pharmaceutical industry in adopting new technology, and in building innovation and leadership capacity
Britest exhibiting at NEPIC MTM 2019
Britest has become a member of NEPIC, the regional cluster body for the process industries in the North-East of England.
Britest joins regional Process Industries cluster body
Britest has become a member of NEPIC, the regional cluster body for the process industries in the North-East of England.
New paper outlines Britest methodology for decision making for investment in innovation
A feature article by Britest Senior Innovation Specialist Rob Peeling explores the long-standing question of why the introduction of innovative process technologies appears to be so slow in the process industries, and argues that a facilitated decision making approach can go a long way towards accelerating decision making around investment in innovation.
Chemical Engineering: What scientists and other engineers need to know...
An essential three-day training course for R&D Scientists and Engineers from other disciplines, who want to better understand the basic principles of chemical engineering, or make more effective considerations of whole process issues
Multi-site facilitation best practice guide updated
Britest's highly practical best practice guide to multi-site facilitation has just been updated and is available now as a free download for registered Britest users.
New project to pilot selective recovery of pure plastics from multi-materials waste
Britest is to facilitate enhanced impact of the new MultiCycle project, a three-year EC Horizon 2020 Innovation Action which will deliver an industrial recycling pilot plant for thermoplastic-based multi-materials allowing selective recovery of pure plastics and fibres from mixed wastes without downgrading. Britest will be applying insight into building effective, flexible training resources from previous projects, and piloting the SPRING framework for enhanced project impact in the EC SPIRE process industries..
Britest innovation specialists congratulated on new external appointments
Britest's Amy Peace and Rob Peeling appointed to significant external professional/advisory positions with EPSRC and IChemE
PDD tool automation wins AZ Britest Innovation Award
Britest would like to extend our congratulatons to the winners of the 2018 John Borland Award for Innovation: Alex Lamacraft and Natalie Monks from AstraZeneca PT&D Chemical Development for The Development and Delivery of an Automated Process Definition Diagram tool.
Britest Day 2018 materials now available
Following another successful Britest Day event, registered Britest users are invited to access downloadable copies of all the presentations and posters given, and to browse our gallery of photos capturing events from the Britest Day and the preceding evening's annual dinner.
Recognition for Biogen’s use of Britest
The strong progress being made by one of Britest’s newer user companies in embracing and gaining value from the use of the Britest tools was wholeheartedly recognized by an audience of their peers at Britest’s annual showcase event Britest Day 2018.
Britest Day 2018 - see you there
Britest Day 2018 - see you there! Britest's premier annual showcase and networking event, Britest Day 2018 will take place on Thursday 18th October at the Village Hotel, Warrington, UK. Taking the theme of "Insight into Impact" Britest Day 2018 will feature high quality and impactful talks
Decision Making Methodology White Paper Published
A newly published white paper by Britest Senior Innovation Specialist Rob Peeling, considers - and offers a methodological approach to counteract - a long-standing frustration in the process industries: the length of time it takes to introduce innovative process technologies.
Property Mapping - a (Quality) Critical Friend
A recent expansion in the capability of the Britest toolkit is helping process chemists and engineers understand how the properties and performance of the products they are making are influenced by the materials and equipment they are using, and by the processing conditions. Download a recent presentation to find out more.
Medicines manufacturing - are you up for the challenge?
The £10m Medicines Manufacturing Round 2: Challenge Fund call opens on Monday 12 March 2018, Many of the themes "particularly encouraged" by the call scope match challenges in which the Britest approach has a strong track record, or is potentially well suited to address,
From Collaborative Projects to Education and Training Resources
From Collaborative Projects to Education and Training Resources It is self-evident that if the process industries are to become more sustainable, current and future workforces must be able to learn about the innovative technologies and approaches being developed in collaborative projects. A
Reflections on a continuous journey
As 2017 draws to a close, Britest's CEO Gareth Jenkins provides a timely reflection on the interwoven paths trodden towards widespread adoption of continuous manufacturing by the chemicals industry, and the development of the Britest toolkit for capturing and improving process understanding. Over the last few years, Britest has developed and applied a number of support tools for multiple-criterion based business decision making, and 2018 will see more case studies emerging,
New conceptual study for butadiene telomerization published
Research arising from the EU's 7th Framework Programme’s SYNFLOW project on which Britest collaborated has resulted in a new, peer-reviewed publication describing a conceptual design study for a butadiene telomerization process.
Britest to frame thinking on new approaches to decision making for batch to continuous evaluation
Britest to frame thinking on new approaches to decision making for batch to continuous evaluation CEO speaking at 9th Symposium on Flow Chemistry for Industrial Applications Britest's Chief Executive Officer Dr. Gareth Jenkins will be in Barcelona next week, speaking at the latest in a series
Britest Day 2017 Innovation, impact... and inspiration
Britest Day 2017 - Innovation, impact... and inspiration Britest's premier annual showcase and networking day has been hailed as an all-round success. Taking the overall theme of "Innovation and
Autumn marks the start of SPRING
Autumn marks the start of SPRING Amy Peace and Mark Talford represented Britest at the SPIRE Industry Conference in Brussels on 19th-21st September, communicating the key findings of a recently completed collaboration and announcing the start of our new EU project SPRING. "...setting the
Britest Day 2017 provisional programme announced
Britest Day 2017 - provisional programme announced The provisional programme for our premier annual showcase and networking event, Britest Day is now available. Built around the overall theme of "Innovation and Impact" Britest Day 2017 is taking place on Thursday 2nd November 2017 at the
Picture this - future EU Process Industry under discussion
Picture this - Future state EU Process industries under discussion Britest focusing on sustainability and impact at 2017 SPIRE Process Industry Conference The Process Industry Conference , a SPIRE cPPP mid-term policy event, taking place on 19th - 21st September 2017 in Brussels , promises to
Supporting Women in STEM at Darebsury
Supporting Women in STEM at Daresbury Britest is pleased to be supporting local efforts at Sci-Tech Daresbury to encourage a mutual support network amongst female workers involved in all aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics across the North-West's dynamic high-tech business
Symposium Report - Continuous Flow Chemistry for Industrial Processes
Symposium Report - Continuous Flow Chemistry for Industrial Processes RSC Symposium, ChemSpec Europe, Münich, Germany, 31st May – 1st June 2017 The production of fine and speciality chemicals is still heavily reliant on batch processes. There is much technology innovation being developed
No headaches applying Britest to Paracetamol MicroFactory
No headaches applying Britest to Paracetamol MicroFactory Process understanding study helps CMAC team build the picture of new rapid prototyping capability The power of the Britest tools to build team communications, deepen understanding of complex systems, and plan for further action was once
Britest CEO in chair at Continuous Flow Symposium
Britest CEO in the chair at International Continuous Flow Chemistry Symposium Gareth Jenkins to chair session at RSC event during Chemspec 2017 Britest Limited is pleased to report that our Chief Executive Officer Dr. Gareth Jenkins will be chairing a session at a forthcoming Royal Society
Innovation and the Business of Science
Innovation and the Business of Science Britest Limited looks forward to joining other key regional stakeholders at the Business of Science Conference 2017 pre-conference dinner on Wednesday 17th May, The event is the setting for the presentation of a new national Leadership Award which seeks
Making an impact through Public-Private Partnerships
Making an impact through Public-Private Partnerships Britest is helping the EC assess and enhance the impact of H2020 sustainability projects. Britest is pleased to be playing an active role in helping the European Commission assess and learn from the impact of the 2014 - 2016 contractual
Building links in Continuous Crystallisation
Britest will be attending the 2017 CMAC Open Day for the first time as a Tier 2 Member of the Centre for Continuous Manufacture and Crystallisation. This annual showcase for developments in key areas of manufacturing research enabling continuous manufacturing, and future directions.envisaged takes place on 23rd and 24th March 2017 in Glasgow.
Join us at IBioIC17
Britest looks forward to further strengthening our growing links in biotechnology at the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre's 3rd annual conference, IBioIC17, due to be held in Glasgow on the 26th and 27th January 2017.
Biogen becomes Britest Associate
2017 has started on a note of new growth, with the announcement of Biogen International GmbH's accession to Britest Associate status.
Britest joins world leading continuous processing consortium
Britest joins world leading continuous processing consortium Britest Limited has strengthened its capacity to innovate in relation to understanding the batch to continuous manufacturing transition and the role of crystallisation processes in particle design by becoming a Tier 2 member of CMAC
John Borland Award for Innovation Inaugurated
Britest Members’ Day 2016, our principal annual showcase and networking event, saw the inauguration of a new prestigious award designed to recognise and encourage innovation within the Britest community.
Members' Day "best yet"
The 13th annual Britest Members' Day has been acclaimed by attendees as "the best yet". Held on 20th October 2016 at the Macron Stadium, Bolton, Members' Day was attended by around 80 delegates from three continents, drawn from Britest's members, associates, partners and collaborators, and other invited guests.
New CEO for Britest
Britest Limited has announced the appointment of Dr Gareth Jenkins as our CEO. He will assume responsibilities on 24th October and will succeed Sue Fleet who is retiring after 12 years in the role.
New role for Rob Peeling
New role for Rob Peeling A new stage in an ongoing journey with the Britest approach has just started for Rob Peeling, whom we are pleased to report has joined Britest in the role of Senior Innovation Specialist. Rob brings a wealth of industrial experience to his new role from a career with ICI
Senn Chemicals become Britest Associate
Senn Chemicals AG become Britest Associate Swiss custom manufacturer Senn Chemicals AG has become the latest organisation to engage with Britest by taking up Britest Associate status. As an Associate Senn will be able to access a range of Britest tools and services to support their process
Continuous flow catalysis for API synthesis scales up
Continuous Flow Chiral Hydrogenation Scales Up Successfully A new, high-profile scientific paper arising from one of Britest's international collaborative projects , which reports the first development of a continuous flow process for asymmetric hydrogenation with a heterogenized molecular
Welcome to Merck Chemicals UK
Britest welcomes Merck Chemicals UK In an extension to its collaborative business model, Britest is pleased to announce that the Technical Centre of Merck Chemicals UK has become the first Britest Associate. This new level of engagement with Britest offers the opportunity for smaller
Britest and IBioIC partner up to drive innovation
Britest and IBioIC partner to drive innovation Britest has joined forces with the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) to support organisations in delivering innovative process solutions for the growing industrial biotechnology sector. In a reciprocal deal, Britest becomes a
New £20.4m project set to transform UK pharmaceutical development and manufacturing
New £20.4m project set to transform UK pharmaceutical development and manufacturing Britest is playing a key role in a newly launched major collaborative project that is set to transform the UK pharmaceutical industry by enabling the manufacturing processes of the innovative medicines of the
2015 Britest Members Day Builds on Strengths
Members' Day Builds on Strengths The 12th Britest Members' Day, held on 22nd October 2015 took the theme 'building on strengths' and was attended by over 70 delegates from member organisations, collaborators and invited guests from industry and academia. Alongside an update on Britest's strategic
John joins Britest
John joins Britest Britest continues to build its capabilities and broaden the skill set of the core team with the recruitment of a new Technical Communications Specialist. Dr John Henderson joined Britest from new process technology developer C-Tech Innovation in October. John is an
External Appointments for Sue and Mark
External appointments for Sue and Mark The strategic skills and insight of two senior figures in Britest have been recognised through their recent appointments to external advisory bodies. Firstly, we are delighted to report that Britest CEO Sue Fleet has been appointed to the Presidency of
Britest to partner in £22m REMEDIES project
Britest to partner in £22m REMEDIES project Britest’s role in the REMEDIES (RE-configuring MEDIcines End-to-end Supply) project will help the UK pharmaceutical industry develop enhanced process understanding to improve medicines manufacturing and supply. The project was launched in 2014 and has
Britest moves to Daresbury Sci-Tech Hub
Britest office move - 1st July 2015 On Wednesday 1 st July 2015 Britest moved to a new innovation hub at the Sci-Tech Park, Daresbury, just a few miles from our previous location at The Heath, Runcorn. Our new contact details are: Britest Limited The Innovation Centre Sci-Tech Daresbury
Britest launches new data capture and knowledge management tool
Britest launches new data capture and knowledge management tool Britest’s latest venture into software-based tools to support process understanding has been launched following extensive development and testing with member organisations. The Facilitator Support Tool (FST) was showcased at Britest
Britest to lead European Horizon 2020 sustainability project
Britest to lead European Horizon 2020 sustainability project Britest is to lead the co-ordination of project STYLE - a two year coordinated support activity across the European process sectors, funded by the Horizon 2020 / SPIRE programme. Launched in January 2015, project STYLE aims to identify
New methodologies launched to address key business drivers
New Britest methodologies launched to address key business drivers Britest has launched three new methodologies to help organisations generate value from process understanding by addressing key business drivers. A new Biocatalysis Assessment Methodology is used to assess the techno-economic
