Blackfriars hub: 2 years old today!

Synnovis released this infographic to celebrate the second anniversary of its Blackfriars hub and to capture the scale and scope of what has been achieved.

The first live pathology samples were processed at the hub on 2 April 2024. Since then, the volume of tests processed has doubled year on year, with 22.5million tests processed in the past 12 months compared to 10million in year 1. This uplift is reflective of the laboratories across Floors 1 – 5 now being operational.

There is also uplift in the number of samples our CSR colleagues at the hub receive each day (15,000), and the number of tests the hub processes for GPs each day (64,000). There is a welcome buzz and energy to the building which is now the base location for 800 colleagues.

The hub also claims a number of European and World firsts in the technology and kit we’ve installed which has enabled us to test the potential of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR), with one fondly known as Kevin.

All of the above has led to an increased interest in the hub and visits from the likes of Dame Sue Hill (Chief Scientific Officer, NHSE), Dame Laura Lee (Chief Executive, Maggie’s Centres), Dame Amanda Pritchard (Chief Executive, GSTT), and Jane Mills (Deputy Director Pathology, NHSE).

While there is more yet to achieve, both at the hub and through a shift in focus to our Essential Services Laboratories, the reasons we started on this transformation journey in south east London are beginning to crystalise. This has only been possible due to the massive efforts of our colleagues and Trust partners, who deserve to be very proud of everything achieved in this past year and of the future ahead of us.

Mark Dollar, CEO of SYNLAB UK & Ireland