Pandemic boom ends as Randox records loss

A pandemic boom at Randox, the County Antrim diagnostics firm, has ended, company accounts show.

Randox was one of the UK’s major suppliers of Covid tests, helping it make total profits of £465m in 2021 and 2022.

In 2023 it recorded a loss of just under £33m, with annual turnover down from £626m to £173m.

The firm said that compared to pre-Covid turnover of £118m and the overall performance in 2023 was “entirely expected”.

It added that its “core diagnostics” business has remained profitable and the directors have “a very positive outlook”.

Between January 2020 and December 2021, the UK’s Department of Health awarded 22 contracts to Randox, or its strategic partner, with a maximum value of £777m.

Those Covid testing contracts were investigated by the National Audit Office (NAO) over concerns about lobbying and contracts awarded without competitive tendering.

The NAO concluded that it had “not seen any evidence that the government’s contracts with Randox were awarded improperly”.

However, it added that the Department of Health “did not document key decisions adequately, disclose ministerial meetings with Randox fully or keep full records of ministerial discussions involving Randox”.

Randox is owned by Dr Peter Fitzgerald, who founded the business in 1982.