PPE manufacturing deal will create 100 jobs at Liverpool City Region site

12th May 2020

A Liverpool City Region safety solutions firm is creating more than 100 jobs after winning a Government contract to produce surgical gowns for the NHS.

Survitec usually makes goods for the marine, defence and aviation markets.

But its Birkenhead factory will be making sterilised surgical isolation gowns as part of a personal protective equipment (PPE) contract with the Department for Health and Social Care.

The factory has continued to operate during the COVID-19 crisis, supporting the UK’s aerospace and defence industries.

But it will now be expanded to include a dedicated site for the production of the life-saving gowns.

The company will be hiring more than 100 additional workers from the local area to support this critical work.

As an existing supplier of choice for the Government, Survitec already meets the high standards for such critical material production and will produce this new PPE to the standards required by the NHS and other health services.

The company worked closely with the Government to move quickly through the regulatory and procurement process, enabling it to begin production on receipt of the specialised raw material and to ramp up production of the gowns as soon as it is able.

Martin Whittaker, chief executive aerospace & defence, Survitec, 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.”

He added: “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 of Survitec, 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.”

Visit survitecgroup.com

12th May 2020