Roche celebrates 100 years in the UK
pharmafile | January 21, 2009 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â RocheÂ
Roche has marked the centenary of the opening of its UK office by raising £20,000 for a local charity.
To mark the anniversary, Roche employees chose the Willow Foundation as their charity of the year for 2008.
The Swiss company has also opened its archives, providing an insight into the UK operation's unique past.
Roche's first UK offices, on Idol Lane near Tower Hill in London, were opened on 7 December 1908, but the company moved to Welwyn Garden City in 1937, acquiring a site on Broadwater Road.
By this time Roche had become a key player in the industry, and Welwyn provided the space the company needed to expand. The company was attracted by the new, suburban setting of Welwyn, which was developing national transport links.
Roche and the war effort
The outbreak of the war brought new challenges for the Welwyn-based employees. During the war Roche continued production of vitamins and research while almost 1,000 air raids were recorded around Welwyn.
The large, heavily reinforced basements on the Welwyn site were cleared for use as air raid shelters and the Roche building became the headquarters for the 4th Hertfordshire Battalion of the Home Guard.
Between 80 and 100 men on the Roche staff served in the battalion. By day the employees worked on war-commodity production, under often high pressure.
But on two evenings a week and Sunday mornings they were transformed into soldiers. The Roche employees received intensive military instruction, learning new weapons as they were added to its armoury, at the expense of their own leisure time.
Willow Foundation
The commitment of Roche staff to outside causes has contributed to the company's centenary charity efforts.
Welwyn-Hatfield based charity the Willow Foundation provides days out for young adults with life-threatening illnesses and was founded by former Arsenal goalkeeper in memory of his daughter Anna, who died from cancer in 1998, aged 31.
During the course of 2008 employees participated in a number of internal and community fundraising events, including a 10-mile race and 100-mile treadmill challenge.
In the final round of fundraising a group of employees took part in a 32-mile endurance walk. The walk took place overnight from the location of Roche's first UK offices at Idol Lane, London, to Roche's current UK office at Shire Park, Welwyn, raising over £3,000.
Bob Wilson, founder of the Willow Foundation, said: "Your efforts will make a real difference to the lives of 16-40 year olds living with life threatening illnesses.
"I'd like to say a huge thank you from not only everyone at the Willow Foundation but all those who will benefit from your support. We wish Roche continued success for the next 100 years."
The Shire Park site at Welwyn employs over 1,800 people and focuses on innovative treatments in oncology, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and diabetes.
Related Content
Roche receives CE Mark for blood test to help rule out Alzheimer’s
Roche has been granted CE Mark approval for its Elecsys pTau181 test, the first in …
Roche candidate shows early promise for treating haemophilia A
Roche has announced encouraging early results from its phase 1/2 trial of NXT007, an investigational …
Roche advances treatment for Parkinson’s disease
Swiss biopharma, Roche, has announced its decision to proceed with phase 3 trials of prasinezumab, …
