This year marks a significant milestone for Don Whitley Scientific (DWS): half a century of pioneering equipment, groundbreaking solutions and unwavering commitment to microbiology. From humble beginnings in a spare bedroom to becoming a global leader in anaerobic and automated microbiology systems, DWS is celebrating 50 years of culturing innovation, and looking boldly ahead to the next chapter.
A legacy born in Yorkshire
In 1976, founder Dr Don Whitley, a microbiologist, and his wife Pam launched the business from their home in Shipley. Don’s son and DWS’s current MD, Paul Walton, joined shortly after. Driven by a desire to make life easier for fellow microbiologists, they set out to design products that genuinely improved day-to-day lab work - automating and streamlining processes wherever possible.
Over the decades, DWS has grown from that modest start into a specialist developer, manufacturer and distributor of laboratory equipment; serving hospitals, research institutes, public-health agencies, food and water testing labs, and contract microbiology organisations around the world.
Throughout this journey, the company’s roots in Yorkshire have remained a source of strength: a family-run, independent business that values agility, responsiveness, and quality over scale alone. As DWS says: “Small enough to care, big enough to deliver.”
Innovation at the heart of our mission
From the earliest days, DWS has placed innovation and purpose at the core of everything it does. Key highlights across the decades include:
- Purpose-built anaerobic workstations, designed to advance research into strict anaerobes - organisms long regarded as challenging to culture and study.
- Variable-atmosphere and hypoxia workstations to support cutting-edge cell-culture, microbiome and cancer-hypoxia research.
- Automation solutions including spiral platers and liquid-handling devices to accelerate throughput and reproducibility in food and water microbiology.
- Manufacture in England, worldwide distribution, and strong partnerships with scientific institutions and universities to support both research and diagnostics.
This legacy of innovation is more than a timeline; it’s built into the DNA of DWS. The company has leveraged its engineering heritage, deep microbiology knowledge and close collaboration with users to deliver solutions that address real-world laboratory challenges.
Today: reinforcing our promise to the scientific community
As DWS celebrates its 50th anniversary, its mission is as relevant as ever. The themes of agility, quality, and scientific partnership underpin a new era for the company:
- Strengthening global distribution and support networks to reach more end-users in research, diagnostics and industry.
- Continuing to expand services, including temperature calibration from -90 °C to 650 °C, offering trusted support beyond equipment production.
- Enhancing digital and automation-driven workflows to help laboratories accelerate microbiology results, comply with regulatory demands and adopt next-generation techniques.
- Deepening collaboration with universities and research institutes, many of whom use DWS equipment, to foster knowledge transfer, training and innovation in microbiology and cell culture.
Looking ahead: the next 50 years
The horizon for microbiology is expanding rapidly. Emerging fields such as the gut-microbiome, biotherapeutics, and environmental microbiology present both exciting opportunities and new technical demands. DWS is well positioned to support these advances with its rich heritage, rigorous engineering and user-driven mindset.
As we move into our next chapter, we are taking purposeful steps to ensure we continue meeting the evolving needs of modern laboratories. This includes ongoing investment in the way we present, deliver and support our technologies - developments that will strengthen how customers interact with our equipment and services.
While details will be shared later in 2026, the year ahead will see DWS evolve in ways that reflect both our history and our future ambitions. These upcoming initiatives will introduce a more intuitive, modern experience for our global community and build on our longstanding promise: to make microbiology work better for the people who depend on it.
Comments from our leadership
“We are immensely proud of where we started and the global scientific community we now support,” said Paul Walton, Managing Director. “Our journey from a spare bedroom to serving laboratories around the world has been driven by one constant: making microbiology work better for the scientists doing the work. As we reach our 50-year milestone, we’re energised by the challenges ahead and the role we can play in future discoveries.”
“Innovation is not just a slogan for us - it’s our heritage,” Tom Walton, Service Director, remarked. “Delivering quality service has always been central to what we do. Our customers rely on us not just for innovative equipment, but for the confidence that comes from precision, compliance and ongoing support.”
