Coronavirus business update: Latest news across the North West

NHS staff across the country are set to receive tens of thousands of items of PPE (personal protective equipment) every week thanks to a new deal between the Government and Warrington company Macdonald and Taylor Healthcare.

The firm has already delivered more than 300,000 isolation gowns over the past two months to NHS hospitals treating coronavirus patients.

It will now ramp up production further to provide 50,000 gowns a week using government-sourced fabric over the next six months.

As part of the Government’s “Make” initiative to use the production power of the UK’s manufacturing sector, 300 staff have been brought back from furlough across 10 factories in the North West and Midlands to rapidly begin production.

Lord Paul Deighton, adviser to the Health Secretary on PPE, said: “The response from our manufacturing industry has been phenomenal and I can’t thank them enough for their continued efforts. Every health and care worker must have access to appropriate PPE and through this national effort we will ensure they do.

“We have already struck deals with around 30 UK companies to manufacture PPE and over 100 suppliers to deliver items at scale and pace. We will continue to identify further opportunities to get more PPE to the frontline rapidly.”

Peter Bibby, director of Macdonald and Taylor Healthcare, said: “We had been manufacturing protective clothing, such as scrubs and gowns, for several years and wanted to use our experience to help the UK health care sector.

“We, therefore, decided to assemble a network of textile manufacturing companies across the North West and the Midlands to help provide the urgent and growing demand for PPE.

“We were manufacturing 60,000 isolation gowns a week and now we have the Government-secured fabric we are able to produce 90,000 gowns a week.

“We are proud to be able to support the Government in delivering to all the frontline staff who are providing the essential care we need.”

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Royal Exchange Manchester

The Royal Exchange Manchester is getting ready to welcome back its shops, cafes and restaurants following the Government’s recent update on essential and non-essential retail.

The building, which is also home to a range of businesses and services including the Manchester coroner’s court, remained open throughout the lockdown period, while all of its shops, cafes and restaurants temporarily closed for business as they followed government guidelines.

Now, The Royal Exchange is expecting the majority of shops to be back and open for business as of June 15, while cafes and restaurants have already begun to open for takeaway and deliveries.

As licensed premises selling alcohol, Astons of Manchester opened on June 1, under the new government guidelines.

All the shops will be implementing their social distancing measures, including floor markings, signage, perspex screens and hand sanitisers for the safety of customers and staff.

Tim White, building manager, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming our shops and their customers back to The Royal Exchange Manchester. In addition to the shops’ own social distancing measures we will have hand sanitising stations and signage at both entrances of our Arcade, as well as signage along the floor.”

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Cllr Michael Green

A unique support programme has been launched to help Lancashire’s scale-up businesses bounce back stronger from the coronavirus pandemic.

Two Zero Scaleup Resurgence, fully funded by Lancashire County Council, is designed to help high-growth small- and medium-sized businesses return to full strength quickly after COVID-19.

Twenty five places have been made available for the 90-day support programme, which will be delivered digitally by business performance consultancy Cube Thinking and tailored to the needs of scale-up companies.

It is aimed specifically at firms looking to achieve sustained 20% year-on-year growth and includes quality coaching and mentoring, high-growth masterclasses featuring scale-up experts and peer-to-peer learning with likeminded ambitious leaders.

Amin Vepari, programme manager, Two Zero said: “Two Zero was established in January to support Lancashire’s most ambitious companies, those looking to grow 20% per year, to achieve their goals.

“While at the moment those companies may not be experiencing that kind of growth, they will want to return to it as quickly as possible. We have been engaging closely with high-growth businesses and it’s inspiring to see their determination to get through coronavirus and make their businesses even better than before.”

Two Zero Scaleup Resurgence will begin in July and will cover a range of areas which are key to helping leaders improve resilience in fast-growing businesses.

County councillor Michael Green, cabinet member for economic development, environment and planning, Lancashire County Council, said: “Lancashire has a strong pool of fast-growing businesses which were achieving 20% year-on-year growth in the lead up to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is a unique community of businesses and Lancashire County Council has listened closely to their unique needs.

“Providing this package of quality tailored support to help these ambitious businesses bounce back from the challenges of coronavirus will help the whole Lancashire economy to bounce back, creating jobs and prosperity for Lancashire residents.”

The programme will close for applications on June 30. Businesses who are chosen to benefit from Two Zero Scaleup Resurgence will also be expected to agree to a commitment pledge, outlining a number of ways they will give back to the Lancashire business community in return for their place.

For full eligibility criteria and to apply, businesses should visit https://www.twozerolancs.com/programmes/scaleup-resurgence/

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SiteBox installation at Manchester Nightingale

A Saddleworth business has donated more than £40,000-worth of cutting-edge water quality monitoring systems to UK Nightingale Hospitals, to ensure clean, reliable and safe water for critically ill coronavirus patients and frontline staff.

ATi UK, a specialist electrochemical sensor manufacturer, is playing a vital role in the safe running of the new, emergency healthcare facilities by donating industry-leading water quality treatment and control systems, known as SiteBox, in locations such as Manchester and Bristol, with other installations across the UK and Europe also in the pipeline.

The first SiteBox was donated to Bristol’s Nightingale Hospital, within days of initial planning meetings, following concerns over the converted university building housing no onsite water storage.

By working closely with Bristol Water, Delph-based ATi UK were able to offer an innovative early-warning solution with the use of a SiteBox, to help protect the hospital in the unlikely event that the water supply was lost or the quality was compromised.

This was closely followed by installations at Manchester’s Nightingale clinical facility, in partnership with United Utilities, to safeguard water security, offering the highest level of assurance and compliance to the water supply.

The pioneering systems will allow water companies, including United Utilities, to monitor and warn against complications that could affect the water quality and supply, minimising any disruption to the hospitals.

Garry Tabor, ATi UK executive director, said: “ATi UK is proud to be able to donate some of our cutting-edge water quality systems and support the NHS hospitals during the current pandemic. We are a values-based company and are passionate about supporting communities in any way we can, focusing on staff welfare, local communities and fundraising for charities.”