A company that has seen demand for its at-home allergy, intolerance and health tests escalate dramatically has increased its workforce by 25% including the appointment of two experienced scientists.
Test Your Intolerance has become one of the country’s largest suppliers of self-testing kits which are used by customers in 40 different countries and processed in its state-of-the-art laboratory in Castle Donington.
The firm has recently recruited several new staff – and has a further roles being advertised – so it can increase its scientific research and expand the range of tests on offer.
It comes as the firm has experienced unprecedented growth; in the past 12 months its tests showed an almost 400% year on year growth. Staff were processing 5,052 tests a month in 2022 and throughout 2023 it has been providing results for 13,430 tests a month.
New-recruit Joseph Bentley has been taken on as laboratory manager after previously working at Source BioScience, in Nottingham. More recently Joseph worked as a senior scientist for The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in Leamington Spa, the Government’s flagship testing site, at the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
Joseph will be responsible for managing the laboratory, creating processes and documenting procedures, overseeing staff as well as calibration and quality control.
While Michelle Wakefield has been employed as a laboratory and compliance director after six years working for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a specialist biomedical scientist.
Michelle is a HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist with an MSc in Pathological Sciences and over 15 years’ experience in Clinical Biochemistry, Toxicology and Point of Care testing within NHS Laboratories. She will be responsible for the regulatory side of the business ensuring the laboratory operates to the highest standards and remains compliant with MDR/IVDR regulations.
Cris Wootton, who runs Test Your Intolerance, said: “Our research, innovation and state of the art laboratory place us at the forefront of our industry and we are proud to give people invaluable information about their bodies, that can potentially change their lives for the better.
“We recognise that Test Your Intolerance can only be as good as the people it employs, which is why we pride ourselves on recruiting some of the best scientists in the UK. Joseph and Michelle have a wealth of experience between them and their work for the NHS means they are used to working in a fast-paced environment in compliance with strict working guidelines.
“With appointments like this the company is ready to take the next step in expanding our global network and furthering our research to support more people in overcoming debilitating allergies and intolerances.”
Its tests work by measuring IgE and IgG4 antibody reactions in the body which can uncover evidence of an allergic reaction – when the body mistakes a protein for a harmful substance and creates antibodies as a defence system to fight it – or an intolerance.
Test Your Intolerance, which has been in business for 14 years, also supplies tests which can measure a person’s kidney and liver function, as well as a prostate health test and a kit that measures levels of Vitamin D.
And it has also released a menopause kit, which allows people to detect elevated levels of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), which is a sign that they have started going through the menopause.
