Contractor provides major NHS storage and manufacturing facility

Chester-based contractor Larnook has secured the fit-out contract for a major PPE manufacturing and storage facility to serve three major NHS trusts in North East England.

The company has just eight weeks to remove obsolete racking in the former Procter & Gamble facility in Seaton Delaval and replace it with state-of-the-art infrastructure.

In less than two weeks it has removed the obsolete fittings, mobilised, sourced and delivered state-of-the-art racking equipment and is now installing it across almost 80,000 square feet of warehousing space.

“We say to clients ‘give us your tricky jobs’ because our project management and contracting experience allows us to find solutions that others wouldn’t identify,” said managing director, Chris Evans. “This job proves our approach neatly.”

The scheme involves fitting racking for 5,000 pallets of PPE for distribution to the hospitals of the Northumbria, Gateshead and Newcastle NHS trusts.

The contractor will also install three production lines for the manufacture of face masks, gowns and other protective equipment for surgical and nursing staff.

Sarah Rose, of specialist manufacturing consultancy Lucas Jacob, which was tasked with overseeing the project delivery by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a very exacting brief and Larnook is already delivering in incredibly tight timescales.

“The Trust is rising to the challenge set by the Government, but that would not be possible without Larnook’s help.”

The Seaton Delaval base will now oversee regional inventory manufacture, stock control and distribution under new rules that require hospitals to hold three months’ stock of essential materials.

Sarah Rose added: “Hospitals lack the storage capacity for this extended inventory so it made sense to develop a regional hub.

“This will be among the largest and most advanced of any in the country and benefits from the excellent connectivity to the A1 and A19 trunk roads.”