/01 April 2020

COVID-19 Statement From David Toon - Managing Director

Our businesses provide uniform and protective clothing to healthcare organisations in the UK. We are a contracted and significant supplier to the NHS and also supply a wide range of nursing homes, residential care home groups, private hospitals and GP surgeries. Many thousands of doctors, nurses and carers rely on our clothing in their professional lives.

Our clothing is also worn by organisations manufacturing and processing food along with workers in their supply chains that produce raw foodstuffs and other products that contribute to the food that we see on our supermarket shelves. 

Our cleanroom protective clothing is worn throughout the UK across a range of organisations that need the technical specifications that these garments offer.

Current demand from all these organisations is very high and unprecedented in our experience. Covid-19 is demanding changing staff structures and working patterns, extra shifts and in healthcare the return of large numbers of clinicians to the workplace. All these changes are driving increased requirements for uniform and protective clothing.

We are continuing to supply these organisations with clothing using the warehouse and despatch facilities of both our UK businesses but we have had to adapt our working practices to ensure that we keep our staff protected and therefore safe.

All our staff that are not in warehouse or despatch roles are now working from home. We are supporting them with the technology to ensure that they are able to do their job and be in close touch with their colleagues. As ever communication is key to ensuring staff continue to feel valued and part of the team.

For warehouse and despatch staff, we have adopted the following practices to ensure their well-being and safety at work:

• Staff numbers have been kept to the minimum that allows us to offer an effective and timely service to our customers.
• Our working environments are subject to continual cleaning by dedicated cleaners to ensure that all surfaces and touch points are regularly sanitised.
• Work stations are now positioned a minimum of 3 metres apart and staff are required to maintain a safe distance of 2 metres from other people at all times.
• Every member of staff is required to wear a facemask and these are readily available to all.
• Industrial alcohol hand sanitisers have been employed at all entrances and exits and staff are required to use these in addition to the regular hand washing practices that have been put in place.
• Protective gloves have been issued to all staff and replacements are readily available

We are confident that we will continue to have good supplies of masks, gloves, viral snoods, sanitisers and wipes and we will continue to ensure that all staff are trained in their use.

We see this as a developing situation and expect that we will need to adapt our practices over the coming weeks and months to meet the changing challenges of Covid-19. However our clear responsibility is to ensure the health and safety of our staff and you can be assured that this will be at the forefront of our thinking.

David Toon
Managing Director

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