A Merseyside manufacturer will create 100 jobs after it was selected by the Government to make personal protective equipment for the NHS to help in the fight against Covid-19.
Survitec, a global safety and survival solutions leader that usually makes items for marine, defence and aviation markets, won a contract from the UK Department for Health and Social Care to produce sterilised surgical isolation gowns to supply the NHS.
The group’s Birkenhead factory, which has continued to operate during the Covid-19 crisis, has been expanded to include a dedicated site for the production of the life-saving gowns.
The Wirral company said it will now hire over 100 additional workers from the local area.
A spokeswoman added that the firm had worked closely with the government to move quickly through the regulatory and procurement process, enabling it to begin production upon receipt of the specialised raw material and to ramp up production of the gowns quickly.
Martin Whittaker, CEO of aerospace and defence, said: “In these unprecedented times, it is critical that UK business steps up to support the NHS and other health services around the world.
"In doing so, we are also pleased that we can create a significant number of jobs in the North West to support the local economy.
"We are glad to be partnering with the Department of Health and Social Care, to produce critical PPE at a time when international demand and the disruption of global supply chains makes sourcing of these items very difficult.
“Survitec is incredibly proud to have been selected as a key partner for the NHS and thanks all of the dedicated front-line workers across the health services who are doing the important work of battling COVID-19.”
Ron Krisanda, executive chairman, said: “We are incredibly pleased to be leveraging our expertise and capabilities to support the NHS with the production of life saving isolation gowns.
"As an organisation with a global footprint, we will also be looking at ways that we can support not only our local health service, but other national governments and health systems around the world from our overseas production facilities.
"These are challenging times, but we know that through partnerships like the one we announced today, we will get through this together and emerge stronger."
