Facing COVID-19: The clothing company employing extra staff to manufacture PPE

A North East clothing manufacturer has re-hired all furloughed staff to help with the production of personal protective equipment.

Melody Gowns, which recently expanded into sportswear, reopened its UK plant after being approached by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The company has also leased an additional unit and employed extra staff in order to complete 20,000 gowns.

Managing director Wayne Hall commented: “We were delighted to be approached by the trust for assistance and were more than happy to help.

“Although pulling together all of the resources in such a short period of time was always going to be a logistical challenge, the whole team have done a tremendous job in making it happen.

“Melody Gowns have always had an embedded emergency contingency plan in place, including a comprehensive business continuity plan to ensure they are able to provide an uninterrupted service should they be hit by any major disruption.

“By implementing this they were able to respond very quickly to the emergency request, and go from complete shutdown to over 75 per cent production capacity within less than 48 hours.

“Whilst we are not one of the largest manufacturers in the country, the business model which that the company have operated for several years now gives us the flexibility to respond very quickly to unexpected and urgent client requests.

“This has proven to be invaluable during these unprecedented times.”

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