McLaren partners with GSK in a strategic agreement
Nevertheless, the Woking structure refuses to categorize this new partnership as merely consulting contracts. On the contrary, it considers it to be a much more specific, dynamic, and impactful relationship. Indeed, it involves the distillation, communication, and application of 45 years of expertise gained in F1, meticulously adapted to the needs of McLaren Group's new partner, GSK.
This will materialize by paying special attention to the production process, research and development, and the health department of GSK, whose most well-known brands are Lucozade, Panadol, and Sensodyne. To achieve this, the two partners have decided to build a brand new building, which will be named the McLaren GSK Center for Applied Performance. It will be constructed next to the magnificent headquarters of the Formula One team in Woking and will be operational from 2013. Employees of both companies will be able to meet other partners there to exchange ideas and collaborate on innovative, dynamic, and very interesting projects.
In the speech by Ron Dennis, the director of McLaren Automotive, one can clearly sense that his company has unquestionably moved to another level beyond just being a Formula One team: «In our current challenging economic conditions, we strongly believe that innovative partnerships like ours will play an increasingly important role to ensure that the United Kingdom remains globally competitive in the field of scientific innovation.»
The issue for GSK is somewhat different. Indeed, like other major pharmaceutical companies, the British company must face the expiration of patents protecting its bestsellers. Therefore, it needs to strengthen its research and development department to ensure the sustainability of its revenue. Andrew Witty, the CEO of GSK, explains: « This partnership is another example of how GSK looks outside its sector for inspiration and new perspectives to achieve our strategic objectives in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing economic world.»
This will materialize as additional revenue for Ron Dennis’s company, which will strengthen its development as a car manufacturer, increasingly establishing itself as a full-fledged force.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
