Pfizer UK (officially Pfizer Ltd) is the principal subsidiary of the multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer in the United Kingdom. Pfizer UK has its business headquarters in Tadworth, Surrey, major offices in Maidenhead, Berkshire, research and development facilities in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire and Sandwich, Kent, and a manufacturing and distribution site in Havant, Hampshire. History 1952–2000 To satisfy regulations then in place in the United Kingdom on the importation of medicines, Pfizer established a compounding operation in Folkestone, Kent, in the Autumn of 1952. Pfizer acquired an 80-acre site on the outskirts of Sandwich in 1954 to enable the expansion of its Kent-based activities. In 1955, Pfizer established an animal-feed plant at the Sandwich site and entered the UK non-prescription market for the first time. An Agricultural Division was opened at the Sandwich site in 1957, and in 1964, Pfizer acquired land adjacent to its existing site in Sandwich, known as the 'West Site'. Pfizer UK established 'Pfizer Central Research' in 1971 with the mission to discover new pharmaceutical, chemical and agricultural products for Pfizer's worldwide operations. Pfizer UK was presented with the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement in 1979, in recognition of the outstanding contribution made to tropical medicine by the medicine Mansil (oxamniquine), which had been developed at the Sandwich site. Feldene (piroxicam), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug developed jointly by the Sandwich site and Pfizer's R&D facility in Groton, United States, was launched in 1980. In 1984, a third phase of buildings was completed at the Sandwich site. The oral antifungal drug Diflucan (fluconazole), which had been discovered at the Sandwich site, was launched in 1988. In December 1997, Pfizer announced an investment of £109 million in a new research facility at the Sandwich site, creating 1,000 jobs. 2000–2010 In April 2001, Pfizer UK received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for the discovery and development of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil). In 2002, Pfizer UK relocated its headquarters and sales and marketing functions to new offices at Walton Oaks, near Tadworth, Surrey. In June 2003, Pfizer UK began offering employees at the Sandwich site the option of leaving work at noon on Fridays if their work was completed. In September 2007, it was announced that Pfizer UK would close its manufacturing plant at Sandwich, with the loss of around 400 jobs. Dr Ken Richardson was inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2008 for his