A Wakefield company which designs and manufactures foam mattresses is helping the NHS meet the urgent need for thousands of extra beds by dedicating all production to its healthcare division and mobilising its entire workforce which is working 24 hours a day to meet demand.
GNG Group, a specialist foam manufacturer of sports, healthcare, safety and mattress products, has paused production in all other divisions in order to enable a 90-strong team to focus on production of healthcare mattresses destined for the NHS Nightingale project and several key NHS suppliers manufacturing hospital beds.
Having recently been awarded ‘key supplier’ status by the NHS, GNG’s 40,000sq ft production facility is now operating three shifts 24/7; and has increased the capacity of its healthcare division tenfold.
“Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a rapid increase in orders to help meet the critical care needs of the NHS in the fight against COVID-19 and, like hundreds of companies throughout the UK, we are committed to doing everything we can to help,” explains Phil Whittell, managing director of GNG Group. “We have a skilled and committed team here who have risen to the challenge, enabling us to supply thousands of healthcare mattresses in the last month alone. Incredibly, we’ve received the equivalent of six months of orders in the last five days and we currently have 16,000 medical mattresses shipped or on order since the crisis started. The entire team, from administration staff through to production, are working flat out to meet this demand for critical products – they’ve even volunteered to work over the Easter bank holidays to keep production running. This is the biggest challenge the company has faced in its 45-year history and I am extremely proud of the part our staff are playing in helping the NHS during this healthcare crisis.”
As well as having thousands of healthcare mattresses on order for the UK, GNG is also receiving enquiries from Europe and the US.
Phil continues: “It’s fantastic to see companies throughout the NHS supply chain pulling together to increase production of vital equipment and I think the staff in these businesses, who are sometimes overlooked, deserve a huge thank you for their heroic efforts.”
GNG Group is also supporting Food 4 Heroes by donating funds to the initiative which provides free meals to NHS staff at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and is planned to be rolled out to other hospitals.
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