British fashion brand Barbour makes medical gowns amid critical shortage.
British fashion brand Barbour, known for its wax jackets, quilted coats and country life appeal, is producing 23,000 protective gowns for medical workers battling coronavirus on the frontline, making it the latest clothing company to help fill the PPE shortage.
The 126-year-old company is stepping in to help fill a shortage of personal protective equipment that many nurses, doctors and nursing home staff say they need. Some 7,000 gowns should be ready by the end of this week, according to chairman Dame Margaret Barbour, who spoke to BBC Radio 4 this morning.
Incredibly, this is not the first time that this iconic brand has switched production to assist the nation. Barbour has previously developed “trench sleeping bags” during World War One and special suiting required by the Submarine Service during World War Two. And now, 75 years later, it's 'doing its bit' by manufacturing essential PPE for the NHS.
Barbour’s intervention follows an admission by NHS executive Chris Hopson that the supply of medical gowns imported from China is “critically low” in some U.K. hospitals.
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