Despite being gone as a dominant employer for almost 10 years, the name Pfizer still elicits a response in most Sandwich residents.
Some used to work there and everyone knows somebody that did, such was the influence the multinational conglomerate had on the town.
The American pharmaceutical giant was first established in Sandwich nearly 65 years ago during the Second World War with the production of penicillin.
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In February 2011, the company, which produced Viagra, announced the closure of its site resulting in the loss of more than 2, 000 jobs.
One year later, and the vast majority of the company was gone - leaving only a much smaller research and development site, which still stands today.
Ever since it opened in the town in 1954, Pfizer had been Sandwich’s largest employer and its employees would also make use of the numerous pubs, restaurants and hotels nearby.
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At the time of its closure, Kent County Council commissioned a report on the potential effect of the closure on East Kent.
The report concluded that together with the decommissioning of Dungeness Power Station and public sector cuts, the closure could affect 13, 700 jobs in the area.
Plans were put in place to allay these damaging effects, which included the creation of an enterprise zone in the Discovery Park site to encourage new businesses to set up there.
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“They’ve moved new businesses into the park now but they don’t come in the same numbers as Pfizer did, I don’t get many bookings from them.”
Many of Pfizer’s employees lived in the town and the surrounding villages. Following its closure, a raft of properties came onto the market as many sought employment opportunities elsewhere.
The timing of the departure was unfortunate in the context of the global economy which was still in the grips of the 2008 credit crunch.
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“The average Pfizer family home was a four bedroom detached property and a lot of them came up for sale which flooded the market and brought the prices of them down.
“That’s not to say there was an exodus from Sandwich following the closure of the park but it certainly amplified the effect of the recession.”
The sudden disappearance of Pfizer and its staff meant that many small local firms in the area needed change their business models.
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Tony Calman has worked as a head chef at The Kings Arms hotel for 20 years and is the first to admit that Pfizer leaving the area caught them off guard.
“It took us two-and-a-half years to stabilise really as 20 per cent of our business was tied up with Pfizer from the accommodation side to simple drinks in our beer garden in summer.
The 54-year-old added: We get traffic in the summer for the beer garden and the like but it’s nowhere near the same levels. It was a dark day when Pfizer left.”
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Captain Colin Carr is the former harbour master of the town and now runs the Sandwich Riverbus tours along the River Stour.
He explained: “There used to be a food establishment that sold to the workers at Pfizer, I won’t say the name as the owner has had enough trouble.
“Pfizer decided to set up their own internal catering and so one day there was suddenly no orders. They’d sorted out their catering and neglected to tell him.
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“His employees turned up but there was no work and they were all made redundant by the end of the week. His shop closed shortly afterwards.”
The former musician had held a host of jobs in his time and saw no risk in opening up a new venture in a town going through its own mini recession.
David said: “The Pfizer site was self-contained village with in house catering which means even if it was still there they wouldn’t have come to us.
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“I don’t think there’s much difference them being gone now, in fact it’s probably better as there’s not the same facilities up there now so the people working there have to come down to us.”
A Pfizer spokesman said: The UK is an important location for Pfizer with around 2, 500 colleagues based at four sites working across our commercial business, R&D and manufacturing, as well as packaging and distribution.
Approximately 700 of these colleagues are based at our Sandwich site at Discovery Park, which is among the largest bio-pharmaceutical science operations in the UK.
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In addition, Sandwich is home to Pfizer’s only automated ‘pilot plant’ that manufactures medicines for use in our clinical trials worldwide and is able to perform every step in the complex process of producing a new medicine.
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A further search of the area uncovered a phone which, analysis showed, had been used to run the 'Mr King' county line in the areaSandwich in Kent ist eine der besterhaltenen mittelalterlichen Städte Englands. Im 13. Jahrhundert war sie Englands Haupthafen für den Export von Wolle, doch im 15. Jahrhundert versandete der Fluss, und der Handel zog entlang der Küste nach Deal. Die Stadt befindet sich heute ungefähr 3km im Binnenland. Der Eingang zur Stadt wird bewacht von den Zwillingstürmen des Barbican Tors, das 1539 erbaut wurde. Es macht Freude, die engen verschlungenen Straßen dieser mittelalterlichen Stadt zu erkunden.
Sandwich Bay: Sandwich Bay zieht sich zwischen Ramsgate und Deal entlang; das Gebiet besteht aus Flachsand, Salzsümpfen und Sanddünen und ist von sehr großer ökologischer Wichtigkeit mit Schutzgebieten und Naturreservaten. Drei der prestigeträchtigsten Golfplätze des UK befinden sich hier, der Royal Cinque Ports, Royal St Georges und Princes. Bei Deal besteht der Strand hauptsächlich aus Kieseln, doch führt er über in Sanddünen je weiter Sie Richtung Ramsgate entlanggehen. Um die Sanddünen mit dem Auto zu erreichen, müssen Sie eine Mautstraße durch den privaten Sandwich Bay Estate nehmen.
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Walmer Castle: Walmer Castle ist eines von drei Schlössern, das von Heinrich VIII in den 1530ern entlang dieses Küstenabschnitts von Kent erbaut wurde; die anderen beiden sind bei Deal und Sandown. Dieses charmante Tudorschloss am Meer verfügt über 8 Ar herrlicher Gärten und Parks. Das Schloss ist das Zuhause von Lord Warden. Hier wohnten zudem Sir Winston Churchill, die Königin Mutter und der Herzog von Wellington. Der Wellington Raum im Schloss wurde restauriert und sieht nun so aus wie einst, als der Herzog von Wellington hier lebte und starb.
Sandwiches: Sandwich wurde als Wort im 18. Jahrhundert in die englische Sprache eingefügt als John Montagu, Graf von Sandwich, sich ungern lange genug vom Spieltisch löste, um eine richtige Mahlzeit einzunehmen und stattdessen nach einer Scheibe Rindfleisch zwischen zwei Scheiben Brot verlangte.
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