The Ebola Crisis
The Ebola epidemic of 2014 in West Africa required a coordinated global response. The United Kingdom Government was appointed as a lead nation with specific responsibility for the worst-hit areas in Sierra Leone. Flexiplastics are the nominated Global supplier to the Ministry of Defence and NHS of Air Transportable Isolators (ATIs). These flexible PVC Envelopes enable a patient with a highly contagious disease to be safely moved by road or air whilst still allowing constant care and treatment by medical professionals. A directive from ministers on the COBRA committee required Britain to rapidly increase its capacity in readiness for potential requirements. As part of this Flexiplastics successfully completed the manufacture of the full requirement in a 4-month window ensuring Britain was ready and prepared for this or future outbreaks.
Later Flexiplastics received a letter of appreciation from the Ministry of Defence, this acknowledges the small part Flexiplastics paid in combating this serious outbreak. The MoD Brigadier working with Flexiplastics highlighted the “pro-activity” of Flexiplastics and how well the company “embraced this challenge”. Continuing to add, “Your ability to shape your workforce and resources, and ramp up operational output to meet the requirement went beyond what I could have ever expected – for that, I am truly grateful.”
COVID-19 Pandemic
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Flexiplastics stepped up to the plate again, Developing high quality, re-usable face shield products in only days to supply the nation’s key workers with vital protection. Following the UK Government’s lockdown announcement, we received an enquiry from a local care home and had designed, prototyped and delivered the first batch of face shields to local care homes in just over 24 hours, much to the delight of the home’s nurses and residents.
Sam Bramah, Director at Flexiplastics said: “We’ve gone from closing our doors last week and not knowing when we might open them again, to manufacturing an entirely new product into a new market in a matter of days, which really is testament to the great team we have working here. Thanks to our facilities, infrastructure and skilled team we are fortunate to be in a position to support the nation’s key workers in these unprecedented times and play our small part in the ongoing battle.”
Throughout 2020, we were able to produce more than 100,000 pieces of PPE for hospitals, GP surgeries, supermarkets, dental surgeries and most notably care homes. Learn more about our work during COVID-19 here.
