The MP for Nuneaton has stressed the importance of manufacturing resilience across the country in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and that UK businesses could be a long-term solution for PPE production.
Marcus Jones was speaking as part of a Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s #PolicyHour session, where he also praised businesses for help with PPE supply so far and heard concerns from business leaders across the region.
The session was led by Tom Mongan, chair of the North Warwickshire branch of the Chamber, and Ian Jamie, managing director of local firm Staeger Clear UK, was among the businesses in the virtual meeting.
Staeger Clear UK make plastic packaging for the food industry but has diversified to manufacture visors for the NHS. The company’s turnover in April was 90 per cent PPE and no staff have been furloughed.
Marcus Jones said: “I would like to thank Staeger Clear UK for what it and other businesses are doing to make sure that our health and care workers have PPE.
“Our local hospitals and councils have kept on top of this relatively well but we have all seen the challenges across the country.
“Countries across globe are looking to Turkey and China to bulk buy this equipment and that has been really tricky, because companies want payment upfront to have priority of their workforce.
“Clearly, we need make sure with any PPE it is of the right quality and to the right standards, it would be wrong to expect anyone to use PPE that isn’t of the right standard.
“Therefore, it does lead me to the conclusion – and this is a personal view – that we need more manufacturing resilience and clearly PPE is one of those areas where I think that can happen.
“There has been some really good development from companies, we need to harness that more now and in the future.”
Tom Mongan, chair of the North Warwickshire branch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and also Vice President, added: “#PolicyHour provided a great opportunity for businesses to engage with Marcus Jones MP and voice concerns about the present and the future of their businesses.
“Firms across Coventry and Warwickshire have diversified to help in the PPE crisis during the pandemic, and it was interesting to hear from Marcus how this could lead to more orders for British manufacturers in the future.”