The UK market for laboratory equipment, which includes research equipment/instrumentation and laboratory consumables, was worth an estimated ￡2.79bn in 2007, having increased in value by 31.2% across the review period (2003 to 2007). Year-on-year growth over the period averaged 7%, reflecting a sharp increase in spending on the NHS and a relatively buoyant economy that supported corporate expenditure on research and development (R&D).
Instrumentation and equipment forms the largest sector of the market. With sales worth an estimated ￡1.66bn in 2007, it accounted for 59.5% of the total market's value. Over the review period, sales increased by 30.3%, with average growth of around 6.9%. The laboratory consumables sector accounted for the remaining 40.5% of the market in 2007, with sales worth an estimated ￡1.13bn. This sector has shown slightly higher growth than the instrumentation and equipment sector, the value of sales having risen by 32.5% over the review period at an average of 7.3% per year. However, the market shares of these two sectors have stabilised.
The laboratory equipment industry encompasses the technologies of a wide range of activities, including electronics, engineering, computer hardware, computer software, plastics, glass, paper, textiles and consumer products. Consequently, there is also a wide range of companies operating in the industry, from multinationals to low-tech companies, supplying basic products and services, and hi-tech firms supplying cutting-edge goods and services.
However, the very large companies, many of which are subsidiaries of US firms, have an increasingly strong grip on the market. Merger and takeover activity is likely to remain intense, given the drive from customers in the public sector, and industries such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, to cut costs in the face of the economic downturn. The small, technology-driven companies tend to operate in the fields of software, instrumentation and electronics.
In terms of marketing activity, laboratory equipment is a highly specialised market, aimed at fragmented groups of scientific professionals and purchasers in a wide variety of industries and institutions. Many of these organisations, such as the NHS, are large, bureaucratic and have centralised buying systems. As a result, companies target their advertising to highly selected groups, mainly via trade publications, direct marketing and events such as exhibitions.
We forecast that the market will grow more slowly over the 5-year forecast period (2008 to 2012) than it did during the previous 5 years. Economic growth is set to slow sharply in 2008, with the UK possibly entering a recession. Given the state of government finances, spending on the NHS is likely to be tightened, while customers in key industries such as chemicals and aerospace face problems of overcapacity that are likely to undermine R&D expenditure. The pharmaceuticals industry, another major customer, faces a growing regulatory burden and an increasing threat from generic drugs, so that R&D budgets in this industry are also likely to be curtailed.