SLS Celebrate their 30th Birthday in 2021

On 20th May 1991, Scientific Laboratory Supplies (SLS) was founded, with the intention of providing the laboratory market with something different. SLS started with just two employees in 1991, and has since grown to become the UK’s largest independent supplier of laboratory equipment, chemicals, and consumables. Headquartered in Nottingham, the company operates a warehousing, technical storage, and logistics service across the UK and in several international territories. SLS works closely with leading international industry brands through a market leading catalogue and an extended range of over 500,000 products.

In the 90s SLS launched their very first SLS Catalogue, opened an office in Scotland and received their first order for over £1 million. The next decade saw the assets of Rosslabs, Flowgen Bioscience Ltd and Phillip Harris Scientific absorbed into SLS with their team growing to over 90 employees. During this decade, SLS launched their first website and in 2008 held the first Scientific Laboratory Show & Conference. This event has now grown to welcome over 1200 attendees from the scientific community to the EMCC in Nottingham, with the next show scheduled for 16-18th May 2022.

The following decade saw SLS become the Club Partner of Hull City AFC during the most successful years in their history. As the company continued to grow rapidly, SLS moved to a larger warehouse facility, established the SLS Service Centre and launched SLS Select Education, a division dedicated to supporting secondary science education.

In 2016 SLS acquired Analab and joined the Dutscher group, as well as launching another new catalogue and website to keep up with an ever-changing market. The SLS family at this point had grown to 170 employees. SLS even found some time to send a catalogue into space.

The past few years have seen even more exciting developments, with SLS awarded the ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Europe’ Award in 2019; the same year in which SLS acquired Wolflabs. Most recently, SLS were chosen by the Department of Health and NHS England to support the vaccine storage rollout by supplying ULT freezers for the UK’s supply of the COVID-19 vaccine. This was a complex project deliverable in tight timescales, but SLS were delighted to complete the rollout with absolute success - an achievement they are hugely proud of.

Over the last 30 years SLS have managed to build the most comprehensive product range available to the UK laboratory market including several exclusive brands only available from SLS. From pipettes and petri dishes to the latest in laboratory instrumentation, SLS pride themselves on the quality of products and the service provided to customers. In addition to manufacturing their own SLS Select consumable and chemical ranges, SLS partner with world-leading names including Merck, Eppendorf, Corning, Sartorius, Taylor Wharton, Thermo Scientific, 3M, Sigma Aldrich, Honeywell, Lonza, DWK, Meridian Biosciences plus hundreds more.

It is fair to say that SLS’ evolution over the past 30 years has been significant, but one thing that has remained constant is an unwavering commitment to their customers through a personal, tailored, and flexible approach. SLS remains a business that is all about people and they pride themselves on providing precisely what you need, exactly when you need it.

Joshua Chapman, Marketing Director at SLS emphasised: “SLS want to thank everyone who has been a part of the SLS family along the way and especially our customers and supply chain partners for choosing SLS and putting your faith in us. We look forward to the next 30 years of supporting our customers and their incredible work in the aim of contributing to a healthier, smarter and safer world.”

More information online