Working closely with Scottish aquaculture

Benchmark Animal Health – a division of Benchmark Holdings – is an international company focused on the health and welfare of animals as part of a thriving and sustainable food chain. The company’s Edinburgh facility, established in 2015, was created to support Scottish salmon producers and the wider aquaculture industry, coordinating the research and development efforts of its Fish Vet Group and Marine Research Facility in Inverness and Ardtoe, respectively. Being close to customers is also important to ensure that the company’s product development pipeline meets the ever-changing needs of the industry, as Marketing Manager Agnieszka Jagiello-Johnstone explained: “Aquaculture is quickly becoming recognised as one of the most efficient and sustainable ways of producing food, leading to rapid growth of the industry. Combined with an increased focus on biosecurity and disease prevention instead of reactive or prophylactic treatments, this is changing the ways fish farms operate. Our aim is to provide innovative products – together with education and consultancy services – to support farmers as they strive to create an efficient, humane and sustainable system of aquaculture. Being based in Scotland, relatively near to our customers, allows us to work more closely with them. Their constant feedback is vital for us to understand emerging trends and diseases, enabling us to address these challenges through our R&D activities.” 

Amanda Vivier, Office Manager for the Edinburgh site, continued: “R&D will always be a big part of animal health and, although we do not have any laboratory space here, there is a huge amount of creative work that needs to be done before lab testing can begin. Being based at Edinburgh Technopole means that our product development team has close ties with the wealth of scientific expertise available locally, from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and the Roslin Institute to the University of Edinburgh and Heriot Watt University, as well as the University of Stirling less than an hour away. The assistance we get from the Edinburgh Technopole team is also very good; from health and safety to environmental considerations and recycling, the support mechanisms are really geared around high tech, forward-thinking companies. It also just happens to be a beautiful place to work.”  

To learn more about the activities of Benchmark Animal Health, visit www.benchmarkplc.com