Berwick MP visits Northumberland PPE factory's new site which is creating an additional 60 jobs
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She paid a visit to the 40,000sq/m Seaton Delaval site at the invitation of Sir James Mackey, chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Production has moved to a larger facility creating an additional 60 jobs for local people as well as the opportunity for up to ten apprenticeships.
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Hide AdAnne-Marie was met by Sarah Rose, a local textile industry expert and Paul Dunn, executive director of finance for the Trust. She was given a tour of the factory where she was able to meet and talk to staff about their work.
Later she met with Sir James Mackey and Claire Riley, director of communications and corporate affairs, to discuss PPE supply in the north east, which is holding up well, thanks to local supplies.
Anne-Marie said “I was delighted to be here today to see for myself the Trust’s new expanded facility for producing PPE.
"This is a great example of our Trust leading the way to boost domestic supply of PPE and reducing our reliance on overseas producers.
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Hide Ad"I was particularly pleased to hear the new factory has created a further 60 jobs for local people and will provide an opportunity for up to 10 apprenticeships encouraging young people to explore a career in manufacturing.
“I saw the machinists busy at work producing isolation gowns, scrubs, theatre hoods, masks and theatre hats which was amazing. The Trust should be congratulated on this innovative venture which I’m sure will set a benchmark for other trusts to follow.”
The factory now has sewing machines capable of creating sealed seams, meaning they can produce theatre-quality PPE gowns.
Anne-Marie was invited to try the machines, and made a pair of sleeves for a theatre gown.
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Hide AdThe factory also houses a distribution hub, and has created over two million gowns which has supplied not only Northumberland, but the north east as a whole.
In May, she visited Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s manufacturing and distribution hub in Cramlington. It started out with the aim to produce 6,000 gowns a week when it opened.