Coronavirus update: the latest news from East Midlands businesses

200 Degrees Coffee and members of the public have donated acetate to the Queens Medical Centre hospital (QMC) in Nottingham, to help alleviate the shortage of protective visors for NHS staff working on the front-line of the Covid-19 pandemic.

200 Degrees Coffee initially bought 1,000 acetate sheets and put out a plea to the public for further donations. The people of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire stepped-up; bringing the total to approximately 10,000 acetate sheets which were collated at 200 Degrees’ roast house on Meadow Lane, before delivery to the QMC.

Co-founder of 200 Degrees Coffee, Rob Darby, said: “In the current COVID-19 crisis the NHS are working at the coalface and all efforts are being made to limit the spread, and to help support our NHS and the capacity at its hospitals.

“The NHS is doing an incredible job of looking after us all during this pandemic and when we heard that they had limited resources on PPE, we wanted to help. The team at our local hospital, QMC, are doing an amazing job to create these visors in-house and we hope our donation can make a real difference in the effort to save lives.

“A big thank you to all those who supported us and donated acetate sheets, it was brilliant to see such a huge response from other people who just want to help anyway they can.”

The specialist coffee roasters and self-proclaimed coffee geeks also delivered 50 cafetieres – each with a kilo of freshly ground coffee – to the Nottingham Hospitals Charity, which are now being distributed between NHS staff rooms at QMC and City Hospital in Nottingham.

Nigel Gregory, director of development at Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “Boosting the morale of our front-line staff is a hugely important job for us at the charity, so we are absolutely delighted to be able to provide teams across the hospital with these donations of 200 Degrees coffee and cafetieres. We love the fact that local companies are helping their local hospitals. The ability to quickly and easily make some great coffee will do wonders for our hardworking staff. Thanks to all involved.”

It’s a team-wide approach at 200 Degrees with finance director, Stephen Fern, working with his team mates at football club Bingham FC and the local community to raise £6,000. The sum was raised over the course of just four days and it has been used to purchase 4,200 protective visors for the QMC and other healthcare providers across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

Derbyshire specialty chemical company Lubrizol UK has made its own donation to the fight against coronavirus by donating hundreds of items of PPE equipment to frontline NHS health workers and community volunteers.

Staff from Lubrizol, based in Hazelwood, handed over the 40 boxes of latex gloves, 120 face masks and 80 pairs of safety glasses when they paid a visit to the Royal Hospital in Derby last week.

A few days earlier, the company made a donation of 2,000 latex gloves to a new community group, Loughborough Against Corona, whose 250 members are working with the NHS to deliver prescriptions and other goods to vulnerable people living in and around Loughborough, while its on-site caterer, Wilson Vale Catering, also prepared hot lunches for vulnerable people in early days of the outbreak.

Alison Fisher, general manager of Lubrizol UK, said: “I’m extremely proud of the way our company has come together during this time to help our community.

“I personally delivered boxes of gloves to Loughborough Against Corona, and it was extremely rewarding and inspiring to know that they are helping to look after the more vulnerable members of society.

“These are unprecedented times for everybody and it has been very inspiring to see how our colleagues have continued our important work and helped their local communities with zero reduction in productivity.”

Nigel Rowlson – not worrying too much about the future

Locked in with… Nigel Rowlson, managing director, The Dairy Creative Agency

Who are you locked in with?
My wife (who is also our finance director which is quite handy!), as well as one daughter who came home from Nottingham Trent University last week. Our other daughter has elected to stay on at the University of Reading.

How has the lockdown and working from home been for you so far?
Good actually. The first week was odd – it seemed a little like the phoney war – but then last week we all got into the rhythm of it and accepted the situation. It will be interesting to see how things develop this week because most of the clients and suppliers we work with should now know how they are going to cope with the short-term future. Things have gone quieter but some clients want to do more marketing now (when their competitors are quiet) and others are briefing us on projects ready for when we come out of this dreadful situation.

What has been the best thing about staying in?
Appreciating the garden and the surroundings we live in. It is also lovely to be able to go for a long walk at lunchtime or early in the evening now that the nights are lighter and the storms seem to have stopped.

And what have you missed the most?
Going to the gym and having a dip in their swimming pool! I tend to leave home early and go to Rushcliffe Arena everyday before work – the office is not far from the gym in West Bridgford. I alternate between gym and swim which is always a good start to the day.

What previously essential thing have you realised is not actually essential?
The amount of internal meetings we have. Talking in a creative agency is always positive, but on reflection we do seem to spend a lot of time in meetings. We’ve replaced these chats with Google Hangouts or Zoom calls, but we seem to get to the point a lot quicker now

What are the changes you’ve made that you plan on continuing when restrictions are lifted?
Shorter meetings and more fresh air.

Have you made progress on any of your bucket list items?
Not really bucket list items but with free evenings and weekends, we’ve done all sorts of clearing out and sprucing up around the house.

What is the first thing you will do when isolation ends?
Reclaim the office, go for a pint at The Stratford Haven (close to the office) and then quite possibly a curry at The Laguna in Nottingham – a long time favourite. I’ll then try to go to the gym the next morning!