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A Derbyshire catering equipment specialist has adapted all of its manufacturing operations to produce vital healthcare equipment to support the fight against coronavirus.

Parry, which employs 65 people at its factory in Town End Road, Draycott, has responded to the national call to support key workers by increasing its output of stainless steel mobile wash basins, glove/mask dispensing units and knee operated sinks.

The decision was taken after discussions with its workforce and staff have been working over the Easter period to produce orders for the NHS Nightingale field hospital in Manchester, care homes, prisons and supermarkets.

All of this production is being carried out in accordance with government regulations on social distancing and the firm has also introduced a supply of PPE, staggered lunch breaks and more wash stations to ensure its staff remain safe.

Mark Banton, managing director at Parry, said: “As a lean and agile manufacturer, we were able to immediately switch our production from catering products to essential healthcare equipment, including vital wash basins that could be installed quickly in supermarkets, temporary hospitals or transport interchanges.

“One of our key strengths is our ability to customise designs to suit specific applications and our design engineers are currently talking to a number of clients about modifying products to help prevent the possibility of contamination.

“We have value engineered our products so that they can be manufactured quickly and often despatched within a few working days.

“The work we have done in designing, manufacturing and delivering 14 drug dispensing tables for NHS Nightingale Manchester is a prime example.”