A HI-TECH company employing 50 people has been sold in a £2.3m deal.

AEA Technology has sold the Harwell-based Analytical Services Group to a newly-formed subsidiary of the Atesta Group, called Harwell Scientifics. Staff will transfer to the new company.

The business, which had £3.6m turnover last year, was part of AEA Technology's Environment businesses, serving markets in the UK, mainly in the environmental, pharmaceutical, microelectronics and nuclear sectors.

AEA Technology's deputy chief executive Mel Wood said the decision work of the analytical group was no longer an integral part of the company's long-term business strategy.

He said: "We believe that the business has significant opportunities to continue growing, but will be better placed to realise them as part of a group where its activities are seen as core.

Companies in the Atesta Group, which was formed three years ago, use the trading name Scientifics, operating at 13 sites across the UK.

The group, with an annual turnover of about £7m, has a staff of about 200, most of them graduates, providing scientific analysis services.

Atesta Group managing director Richard Bailey said the buy-out of the AEA firm would raise the profile of the Atesta Group and widen its technical capabilities.

He said: "We will be offering a total analytical package to a wide customer base from a chain of laboratories across the UK."

The Atesta Group's first acquisition in December 1996 was the Regional Rail Laboratories of British Rail as part of the privatisation programme.

Story date: Wednesday 13 October

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