CEMAS – a Brief History
CEMAS was founded on February 14, 1989, as an analytical services company by Dr. Nic Coombe, Michael Eustace (pictured) and Philip Meitner, whose initials inspired the company’s name. Our current Managing Director, Neal Rawle (pictured: main image), joined the team the following year. From the start, CEMAS has been committed to delivering high-quality analytical services, under GxP standards, with a clear mission: to deliver accurate, compliant data, on time.
The Founders
- Nic Coombe: Formerly the principal residue chemist at the Jealott’s Hill agrochemical research centre (then ICI Agrochemicals).
- Michael Eustace: Previously a sales and business manager for ICI Fertilisers.
- Philip Meitner: An investor with a background in chemistry and agrochemicals.
The Early Years (1989 – 1994)
Initially, CEMAS operated from a building within the Royal Holloway College (University of London) in Egham, Surrey. CEMAS was then an analytical lab, containing a range of HPLC, GC, and GC-MS instruments. CEMAS was based in Egham until the spring of 1994, when the company bought and moved to a new facility in Ascot, Berkshire.
Two Decades of Growth (1994 – 2014)
CEMAS grew consistently over the next two decades. The company diversified into agrochemical and biocide formulated product testing and opened its first pharmaceutical laboratory, with the addition of GMP and GCP compliance. Services continued to develop, to include multi-site study management (1999), in addition to operator exposure and DFR studies (2000). The first of many LC-MS/MS instruments was installed in 2000. The Ascot facility expanded, but as demand grew, so did the need for more space.
Current Laboratories (2014 – present)
CEMAS acquired the Imperial House site in Wokingham, Berkshire in 2013. The site was transformed into a state-of-the-art laboratory, with walk-in freezers, fume hoods, and pure gas supplies for mass spectrometers, as well as high-capacity air-circulation systems. This transformation was completed in under a year, and by February 2014, CEMAS was officially operating from Imperial House.
During the renovation of Imperial House, CEMAS also purchased the adjacent Cheney House, which now hosts our pharmaceutical and veterinary medicine testing operations.
In recent years, CEMAS has invested heavily in advanced digital and GxP-compliant data management systems, ensuring our services stay at the forefront of industry standards. Celebrating 35 years of excellence, we continue to operate as a proud independent, family-owned business led by the Eustace family. Our unwavering commitment to quality, compliance, reliability and timely delivery remains the foundation of everything we do.
