All change for forensic market with LGC and Forensic Alliance merger

The merger of the UK’s leading private forensic companies (see page 28) will be the making of the changing forensics market combined with new purchasing arrangements to be introduced in England and Wales. Police Professional spoke with Dr Angela Gallop, LGC’s new Director of Forensics.

The LGC Group, established in 1842 and formerly Laboratory of the Government Chemist prior to privatisation in 1996, announced the purchase of Forensic Alliance on September 16 in a merger of two companies that account for approximately 15% of the forensics market in the UK. Forensic Alliance, significantly smaller by comparison, was established in 1997. Both companies have been part of a rapidly changing and growing role for forensic science.

Dr Angela Gallop says this is partly driven by the companies involved. “The environment is changing because of the competition we have been able to bring to forensic science.”

Arrangements for purchasing forensic services will soon be made by structured competitive tendering, potentially on a regional basis. The new arrangements are anticipated to be in place around the end of 2006. Tenders are expected to require services to be provided with a comprehensive offering and in large volumes.

The LGC Group specialise in many other areas of work outside forensics and have grown substantially since privatisation. Forensic Alliance have specialised in scientific developments to assist the police and criminal justice sector.

Asked if the companies provide competitive services Dr Gallop said, “The two organisations are complementary and don’t overlap in many areas but do different things in other areas. Putting them together makes us a more powerful resource in the work we do and the wider range of services we offer to meet the wider needs of the new purchasing arrangements.

“LGC have a high reputation and prowess in depth and quality in its analytical services used in a number of areas. In the forensic market, LGC is particularly strong in the rapid, cost-effective, streamlined analyses, particularly DNA, drugs and toxicology work and is now developing expertise in computer crime and a number of very specialist areas. Forensic Alliance has a reputation for high quality innovation, especially for the more complex and intractable cases. The combined company is able to provide the high input cost-effective solutions as well as the complex work, services to match any of the larger tenders that could be sought.”

Dr Gallop says that it is too soon to say if any facilities will be combined as a result of the merger but say this is not likely to be the case. Forensic Alliance recently expanded with the opening of a specialist firearms facility within the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Cost-savings will not be made in facilities and people but will be able to be made in the growth of the services provided and in dealing with larger combined volumes.

Dr Gallop believes that the merged company will have access to wider resources that can be called upon without increasing costs and so believes the company is in a stronger commercial position to bring forward and utilise scientific developments.

Dr Gallop, a founder of Forensic Alliance, says that the company was established after forensic services were seen as being in danger of becoming process-driven and de-skilled. However, there was a need for a high level of service to deal with the more complex, high profile and difficult cases. LGC got into forensic science as it could see that a lot of the techniques could be done in a more streamlined and effective way.

“They were a thorough analytical outfit that was well used to quality standards, there was a need to improve the service delivery especially with DNA and drugs.”

Dr Gallop says that the innovation they have created will continue into the combined organisation. New services now offered include forensic ecology (entomology, palynology – pollen grains, archaeology, soils and anthropology) and also includes integrating forensic pathology with forensic science. Dr Gallop said, “Whatever