The global headquarters of pharmaceutical thermal protection specialist Tower Cold Chain has been officially opened by The Rt Hon Alok Sharma, Member of Parliament for Reading West.

Tower Cold Chain manufactures robust, reliable and reusable supply chain containers, which are used worldwide to transport temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical, life-science and biotech products. A fast-growing business, Tower recently won the Queens Award for International Trade.

The company moved to its bespoke 26,000 sq ft facility in Theale in September 2021. The building has helped Tower to greatly expand its container conditioning and storage capacities, as well as enhancing its design, laboratory and testing capabilities.

As well as being located in his constituency, Tower’s work is of particular interest to Alok Sharma due to his role as President of the COP26 summit. He had already visited the site to see first-hand the role it has played in transporting COVID vaccines in a safe and sustainable way, so he was delighted to be asked to officially open the headquarters.

Alok said: "It’s great to see how Tower has continued to thrive since my visit in November and I am delighted that its work has been recognised with a Queen’s Award for International Trade. As a fast-growing, innovative business, Tower reinforces the fact that Reading is an economic powerhouse and provides great tech job opportunities.”

The official opening was also attended by members of the Tower board. Chairman Just Arne Storvik said: “The Theale facility offers world-leading technology to support the needs of pharmaceutical companies, airlines and logistics providers. We’re proud to see the facility officially opened and honoured to have such an esteemed dignitary as Alok Sharma here to cut the ribbon.”