Jan 17 2021 Read 288 Times
The Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab in Cheshire, which plays a key role in the UK Government’s national COVID testing programme, announced in November that it had processed its 4 millionth test since its launch at the start of the pandemic.
The equivalent of testing the entire population of Liverpool and Manchester, the facility, operated by Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), stood up its site in April and is now able to process 50,000 tests in 24 hours. For Professor Chris Molloy, CEO of MDC, who led the formation of the national Lighthouse Labs network, this achievement was a major milestone in six months of hard work and the epitome of a ‘can-do’ attitude.
How Britain’s Test and Trace system let coronavirus slip through its £40bn net
The expensive NHS scheme is under fire as coronavirus has spread faster than the system could track infections
3 January 2021 • 5:00am
NHS Test and Trace, with over £40bn spent or committed, is one of the most expensive public schemes ever undertaken, consuming as much money as the annual defence budget. Yet ministers were warned by leading epidemiologists that inefficiencies in the system would render it useless at inhibiting the spread of Covid 19 – in reducing the all-important R number.
“The coronavirus moves too fast for Test and Trace to work,” says one epidemiologist. Others working in the field acknowledge this is true for NHS Test and Trace as it currently operates, but argue this is too pessimistic. Even modest gains in the speed of tracing contacts could yield significant reductions in transmission.
Who: Driven by a love of plants, Pure Sunfarms is one of Canada’s largest, single-site, licensed producers of high-quality, greenhouse-grown cannabis based in BC’s Fraser Valley (Delta). They are proud to bring together individuals from a wide breadth of industries, backgrounds, and experiences, and promote a culture of belonging where everyone can truly be themselves – in every form of expression that is natural to them. This is the priority and guiding light at Pure Sunfarms, driving their uncompromising approach to quality and success within the Canadian recreational cannabis market. They believe their differences are their strengths, letting them look at cannabis in a whole new light.
Richmond startup roundup for 2020: New concepts for coronavirus challenges
December 28, 2020
Jackson Ward Collective is a business incubator aimed at Black entrepreneurs that launched in September. Pictured, left to right, are co-founders Kelli Lemon, Rasheeda Creighton and Melody Short. (
Courtesy of Will Royé/The 123 Agency)
A year dominated by the pandemic provided plenty of opportunity for local startups to address the range of problems that came with it. And as some had to pivot to rise to the occasion, others found themselves well positioned to capitalize on the moment.
Here’s a roundup of the most interesting news from Richmond’s startup scene in 2020: