Two senior Labour MPs have welcomed the development of a Northampton factory to produce medical masks for the NHS in the UK.
Emily Thornberry, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, and Bill Esterson, Shadow Minister for International Trade, praised the Medicom plant for its focus on quality, reliability of production and environmental benefits.
The MPs were speaking on a special visit to the facility in Northampton, which is producing in excess of 1.5 million masks a day to protect front-line NHS staff.
Emily Thornberry said: “It should be our collective goal in the coming years to buy, make and sell more in Britain, so it’s been a pleasure to visit a company that is trying to provide a high-quality, home-grown solution to our PPE needs.
“Too often our NHS has had to rely reply on supplies that have fallen short of the required standard during the pandemic, and of our values concerning the protection of human rights.”
Around 250 new jobs have been created at the factory by Medicom, a world-leading manufacturer of high-quality PPE. The site has been developed following an agreement with the UK government to supply masks to protect front-line NHS staff.
The hi-tech facility features a clean room covering more than 20,000 square feet, where two types of masks are made in carefully controlled conditions.
Mr Esterson said: “I was very impressed at the attention to detail in ensuring that the masks are of the highest quality, and that production takes place in a clean room environment which goes beyond the standards required. This high-quality approach is of great value to NHS staff and patients.
“There have been significant concerns during the pandemic about poor quality, waste and corruption in the way PPE has been bought. I’ve also highlighted the appalling use of forced labour in Malaysia and China in PPE production, so it is very good news that we now have PPE production of the highest standards in Britain.
He added: “I was also greatly encouraged that Medicom are using suppliers from Britain or nearby countries to increase reliability and reduce carbon footprint.”
The British government has now joined Canada, France, Singapore and Hong Kong in choosing Medicom as a key supplier. The company has ten manufacturing sites around the world, but this is the first in the UK. It represents an investment of many millions of pounds.
Hugues Bourgeois, the Managing Director of Medicom in the UK, said: “As a global company, we are proud to be supporting the NHS and are fully committed to the UK. We were very happy to host a visit by Emily Thornberry and Bill Esterson for their interest, and thank them for their interest.”
