Greater Reading Industrial Property Supply at all Time Low Following Letting at Total Park Theale

12 / 10 / 2021

Greater Reading Industrial Property Supply at all Time Low Following Letting at Total Park Theale

Pharmaceutical thermal protection specialist Tower Cold Chain is opening a new global headquarters at Unit 2 Total Park Theale.  Located close to its existing premises in Theale, just 30 minutes from London Heathrow Airport, the 26,000 sq ft building will greatly expand Tower’s container conditioning and storage capacities, as well as enhancing its design, laboratory and testing capabilities in the development of robust, reliable and reusable temperature-controlled pharmaceutical supply chain solutions.

The new headquarters features a special Innovation Centre and additional office space which is available for customer use, providing opportunities for meetings and product assessments, as well as the investigation and development of enhancements and new technologies.  In addition, the expanded laboratory facilities will further strengthen Tower’s testing and qualification capabilities and include two new environmental test chambers with a larger capacity for qualification and development of new product ranges.

“This is another important milestone in the continued growth of Tower,” commented Niall Balfour, Tower’s CEO.  “We are experiencing increasing demand for our range of services to support the fast and efficient distribution of temperature-critical pharmaceuticals and life science products, ensuring they maintain their efficacy to deliver the best result for the end-patient.  “The additional space and facilities in our new premises further strengthen our collaborative approach, which is at the heart of every project, and will enable us to react even more quickly to customer requests.”

The UK headquarters will also support Tower’s growing global network of strategically located hubs throughout Europe, the USA, Asia-Pacific, India and South Africa improving both proximity and availability of containers.  The company’s global standard operating system ensures ease of ordering for customers, matching their supply chain needs. Tower’s extensive product offering also means it can supply containers at all pharmaceutical temperature configurations and standards to meet the different requirements of Euro, US, single and double pallets, as well as smaller sub-pallet consignments.

The company was one of the first to adopt phase-change materials to protect temperature-sensitive materials, as well as developing a patented built-in data logger for its products.  More recently, Tower introduced a range of unique biotechnology deep frozen pack-out solutions.  In its last 15,000 shipments, the company has recorded fewer than 0.1% temperature excursions.

“Delivering product protection and safety as part of an efficient, reusable system are critical requirements of a cost-effective pharmaceutical supply chain,” concluded Balfour. “Our new premises will further enhance our capabilities to deliver high performance solutions that meet these criteria every time.”

Neil Seager partner at Haslams who leased the unit to Tower commented “We are delighted to have leased the last remaining unit at Total Park Theale; particularly to such an innovative and growing company like Tower.  This letting removes further stock from the market and firmly brings the next 12 months into focus.  The lack of supply is a huge issue for companies which will only be solved by the new stock planned to come on line towards the back end of the year.  Inevitably rents and prices in the meantime will rise.”

Haslams, M1 Agency and Gerald Eve acted for the landlord.


Neil Seager

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Neil Seager

BSc (Hons) MRICS