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Company Overview

Cairn Research Ltd. is an independent scientific instruments manufacturer based in Faversham in the UK. We mainly produce instrumentation for fast, sensitive optical measurements, with our equipment being found around the world in laboratories using fluorescent indicators as tools to monitor cellular ion concentrations. Our customer base is primarily prestigious researchers with demanding scientific goals, and their input has encouraged our expansion into experimentally related areas, such as electrophysiology, with our Optopatch patch clamp amplifier becoming increasingly popular.

The company was set up in 1985 by Dr Martin Thomas, who had previously combined his interests in research and commerce by accepting an offer to join an industrial research laboratory. Martin's industrial experiences led him to believe that a small company with a "can-do" philosophy, unimpeded by external interference, could compete effectively with much larger organisations. Thus Cairn was conceived, and to meet the requirement of independence, the business has always been self-financing. We purchased our existing premises in 1989 and the company has grown steadily in the time we have been here. In recent years we have been looking for a new location to allow further expansion, and earlier this year we succeeded in obtaining relevant planning permissions for a new, much larger site. With construction now in progress, we expect to occupy the new buildings in the spring of 2003.

Cairn has a very active R&D programme, and we are assisted in this by the use of professional development software for specialist design work. We have workstations for Vutrax for electronic design and component layout; Zemax for optical design and development; and SolidEdge for 3D modelling and drafting. To complement this we have in-house mechanical engineering facilities, which are used extensively for both research and development and custom design projects. The nature of our research programme helps us to provide the best possible customer support, as it is usually possible to speak to the person who actually designed a product or system to answer questions or solve problems.

In addition to manufacturing our own proprietary research equipment we are experienced in providing complete integrated systems based around our hardware and high quality components from other suppliers. We have good working relationships with the top manufacturers of research microscopes, regularly supplying microscopes from Olympus, Zeiss, Nikon and Leica. In the fluorescence imaging field we work with companies such as Universal Imaging, Roper Scientific, Kinetic Imaging and Hammamatsu to provide comprehensive solutions. We guarantee that whether you choose to buy a single component or an entire system from Cairn, you will get the same high level of service and support.

Why deal with us?

• We design and build most of the hardware ourselves, which is something we enjoy doing in any case, so we can ensure that our products are optimised for carrying out the tasks that you actually want them to do.

• Although we can (and obviously like to) provide complete solutions we also ensure that all our components will work as seamlessly as possible with your existing equipment and software

• Because we mainly deal direct we can ensure that a much larger proportion of your hard-won funding, is fed directly into product development and support. We previously claimed in this section that funds would not be diverted into running an expensive fountain in our entrance lobby; we can now that confirm that the planned fountain will actually be in our landscaped gardens, not in the lobby, so we remain true to our promise.

• We do not get drained of our profits by money-hungry banks or outside shareholders, so we can plough the savings straight back into lower prices and into our extensive R&D program. In other words, we offer the best value around, and thanks to the Internet, we can let everyone know about this without spending another fortune in advertising, which makes the situation better still.

• Furthermore, if you have any questions or problems, or in the event (unlikely, of course!) that the equipment goes wrong, you can talk directly to the people who actually designed it.

• This also allows us to offer a fast and low-cost maintenance and repair service to our global customer base, since we can fix everything here in only a day or two. With the abundance of cheap airfares we are also able to visit customers in person as required.

• On the other hand, if you do want a hard sell followed by a deafening silence once you've parted with your money, then surf on now.

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