About Markes International

Thermal desorption and sample automation & concentration equipment for GC–MS: Industry-leading instrumentation, accessories & supplies

Established in 1997, Markes International is a global manufacturer and supplier of specialist analytical instrumentation, accessories, supplies and consumables that enhances the sensitivity and application scope of GC–MS.

Our products help analysts worldwide detect trace-level volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs) in solids, liquids and gases.

Discover more – Deliver more

Our detailed technical knowledge, combined with our long experience of in-field applications, has always served our customers well. Today, we’re stronger than ever in these areas, and this is enabling us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in analytical science. In brief, we’re helping our customers to Discover more and Deliver more.

Powerful products for tough applications

Our thermal desorption (TD) instruments have for over 20 years been the mainstay of our business. Thermal desorbers such as our flagship UNITY-xr™ and TD100-xr™ systems use the power of trap-based focusing to concentrate samples into the small volumes needed to ensure highly sensitive GC–MS analysis.

Our sample preparation equipment is represented by our Centri^® platform, which combines several techniques for the extraction and enrichment of samples. As a result, Centri enables analysts to analyse different sample types and maximise throughput, all on a single system.

Supporting these products is a broad range of stand-alone sampling accessories and supplies to ensure reliable ongoing performance, and the largest available portfolio of sample capture equipment for TD.

Our instruments adhere to regulated standard methods used worldwide, and their application scope is broad – from environmental monitoring to homeland security, and from consumer products to foods and beverages. In addition to these well-established fields, our systems are also widely used in advanced research, such as breath sampling for disease diagnosis, and investigations into chemical ecology.

Multi-award-winning innovations

Since we were founded by Alun Cole and Elizabeth Woolfenden in 1997, our engineering teams have pioneered numerous innovations in thermal desorption and associated sampling equipment.

Some of our most important breakthroughs include inert valving for wide analyte compatibility, backflush trap desorption for a broad single-run analyte range, cryogen-free cooling systems, and re-collection of split flows for streamlined repeat analysis.

Over the years, we’ve received numerous awards in recognition of these innovations, as well as for excellence in trade. Recent highlights include our Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in 2015 and 2019, and a UK Board of Trade Award in 2018 – accolades that we see as reflecting the enterprising spirit of everyone at Markes.

Global reach, talented staff

Our systems are sold worldwide, both through our own offices and our network of distributors, and our customers encompass research, government and industrial/service laboratories.

Our factory, technical centre and headquarters are at Bridgend near Cardiff (UK), and offer over 50,000 sq.ft of space for research, manufacturing, engineering, marketing and customer demonstration facilities. Our overseas support centres and laboratories are located in Offenbach am Main (Germany), Sacramento (California, USA) and Shanghai (China). We are also represented in Toronto (Canada), in the technical facility of SepSolve Analytical, our sister company in the Schauenburg Group. Across these locations we employ thermal desorption and sample preparation experts, alongside the sales and customer support teams, to help ensure our customers have access to our advice whenever they need it.

Powerful partnerships

We work closely with our sister company, SepSolve Analytical Ltd, who offer our products as part of broader application-focused packages, including advanced GC equipment (such as GC×GC), mass spectrometers and data-analysis software. In this way, SepSolve Analytical is able to meet the challenges of the entire workflow, as well as offering product packages tailored to the needs of individual laboratories.

Markes International and SepSolve Analytical are part of the Schauenburg Analytics Group, who harness applications and engineering expertise to improve all aspects of the gas chromatography workflow and deliver better business and scientific outcomes for both research and routine laboratories.

The Group’s mission is to develop technologies that allow scientists around the world to improve throughput and maximise the quality and quantity of information extracted from every sample. With expertise in every area from sample preparation to the processing and interpretation of complex data sets, the Group also provides the ongoing support and partnership your laboratory can rely on.

Schauenburg Analytics Ltd itself is part of the SCHAUENBURG International Group,

SCHAUENBURG International is an internationally active, family-managed investment company which holds majority stakes in established and profitable industrial companies. Investments are made on a long-term, sustainable basis and in trusting cooperation with the existing management teams. The focus is on companies which are leaders in technological niche markets and which strengthen or sensibly complement the existing business areas of SCHAUENBURG International. It concentrates primarily on future-oriented sectors such as safety, analytics, automation, environmental, space and industrial technologies.

How we can help you

For 25 years, we’ve been offering analysts the most advanced equipment for getting the best out of GC–MS, and this mission continues today. So whether you’re an analyst needing to adhere to international standard methods, an applications expert tasked with maximising performance and streamlining workflows, or a researcher needing to push boundaries in analytical science, we can help you Discover more and Deliver more.

Markes International global locations