Client
Rig Equipment are a leading manufacturer and solutions provider for specialist emergency services and defence professionals. They supply high quality functional and innovative apparel and equipment. All of their products are designed and made in England.
At the start of the pandemic the Black Country Growth Hub team quickly put together a database of companies who could possibly supply PPE to frontline workers during COVID-19 and Rig Equipment were included.
COVID-19 - impact
One of the BCGH team reached out to Ray Formosa who is the Managing Director of the company to ask if they would be able to support the national call for PPE. Ray said the company were willing to help and they had already registered via the Government website but were concerned their services weren’t being fully utilised as order numbers were lower than expected.
Rig Equipment identified early on that there would be a shortage of raw materials to produce face visors, this prompted them to source and purchase those raw materials. This enabled the company to produce up to 25,000 face visors initially, this led them to source new machinery, order specialist tooling and train existing staff members to use the new machinery. Once these measures were in place, the company started mass production, dispatching 5,000 – 8,000 masks in their first week.
COVID-19 - response
The company has received orders from various hospitals based within the UK and is supplying face visors to a number of care homes and opticians. Ray is also waiting to hear about an opportunity to supply PPE items to the NHS within Wolverhampton and West Midlands Police.
The BCGH team has put forward Rig Equipment as a PPE supplier to relevant Government and NHS procurement contacts to ensure their services are fully utilised in order to support the national call for PPE for frontline workers.
The company is complying with Government social distancing guidance and has even produced its own sterilising hand solution for its staff.
They are staying active on social media by sharing good-news stories and running competitions to win the chance to donate PPE to a specific charity or organisation – they have also been featured on Midlands Today by the BBC.