A GLOBAL healthcare company is to open a £10m HQ in Runcorn.

Fresenius Kabi (FK) has announced an expansion programme in the North West, which includes a new purpose-built UK headquarters on a three acre site at Manor Park.

More than 300 staff, currently spread across three sites in Cheshire, will move into the UK operations centre, comprising 140,000sq ft of warehouse and 30,000sq ft of offices on three floors.

Calea manufacturing, a FK subsidiary specialising in hi-tech clinical nutrition home care and employing 50 people, will also move to the location in a second phase investment.

The site is close to the current FK operations at Melbury Park, Warrington, and Hampton Court and Christleton Court in Runcorn.

Fresenius Kabi is a £100m-a-year company, formed in 1998 following the merger of the pharmaceutical division of Fresenius Ltd with the intravenous nutrition business of Pharmacia and Upjohn Ltd.

Managing director Chris Harrison said: 'As a leading global health care company, Fresenius Kabi is delighted to be making such a strong commitment to the North West and to Run-corn.

'As the UK business has grown, we have added sites in Cheshire.

'For reasons of efficiency and communication, it now makes good sense to integrate the entire operation on to one site as we plan for further growth.

'We are proud of the way the North West workforce has performed so impressively for Fresenius Kabi.

'Now we are very confident our increased investment in the region will bring significant mutual benefits to the company and to our workforce.'

Fresenius Kabi is part of the Fresenius AG group, which employs 69,000 staff in 30 countries.

It is the only company operating in both the enteral (nutrition via the stomach) and parenteral (nutrition via the veins) markets.

It also makes products for fluid management and anaesthetics.

Fresenius Kabi products are often seen in intensive care units, where it provides bags of nutritional feed to be attached by lines into patients.

Staff at the Cheshire offices include a 70-strong nursing team, which provide a vital lifeline for critically ill patients at home, delivering and supervising the feed in a personal, bespoke service rare in the sector.

Work on the new building is expected to be completed by June next year.