National recognition has been received by leading safety company Arco for its work on PPE procurement in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.
The Hull-headquartered company issued a white paper to address issues faced in the first phase of the pandemic, offering up advice on future preparedness to the government.
It was raised in Westminster and has led to executive chairman Thomas Martin playing a role in subsequent investigations, having provided insight alongside Neil Hewitt, director of quality, safety, health and environment in the UK and Asia.
Read more: From Westminster PPE frustration to royal approval for timely expansion - Arco MD opens up on 2020
Arco’s efforts have now won the PRCA National Award for the Crisis and Issues Management category.
Working with its public affairs advisors at Dentons Global Advisors Interel and Public Relations agency Houston, Arco offered unflinching insight into its experiences dealing with Government bodies and other agencies as part of the PPE supply chain.
It proposed a 10-point set of recommendations to prevent a repeat of the high-profile issues that were seen during the first wave in a bid to ensure the country is better protected in any future pandemic.
Mr Martin said: “With over 135 years of experience in the industry our core purpose is to help keep people safe, so we felt that it was our duty to report on our experiences and to support the Government in continuing to deal with the pandemic.
"We urged the Government to act on our recommendations and the evidence we gave has played a key part in raising awareness for the improvements needed in the regulation and purchasing of PPE and I’m really pleased to see that our work has been recognised.
“I congratulate our partners Interel for devising and driving this project forward and for the ongoing support from our communications consultants at Houston who delivered a superb media campaign.”
Constituency MP Emma Hardy read extracts in Westminster as the controversy over procurement contract awards peaked. Mr Martin also shared findings with the independent Public Accounts Committee, leading to him giving expert evidence as a witness to the committee’s inquiry.
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