Shropshire-based Hospital Direct, which manufactures moving and handling products for healthcare and home settings, has enjoyed unprecedented growth over the past 12 months with turnover up 35% and 15 new full-time jobs created.

This growth has resulted from launching new ranges to support key workers during the pandemic, including non-sterile surgical gowns which provide healthcare professionals with better personal protection against viruses and bacterial infections. These gowns are manufactured at Hospital Direct’s factory in Clun, Shropshire, ensuring there are no long lead-in times for orders.

To support the economy as the country slowly comes out of lockdown, the company also offers washable products which enable better infection protection as they can easily be laundered between patients or, for use in more invasive environments or where laundry systems are not robust enough, then our disposable ranges are popular as they can be used just once for one patient and then safely thrown away.

Popular disposable products include tubular or flat slide sheets (with and without handles) or tubular roller sheets for easy patient positioning as well as covers for patient transfer boards while some of our extension straps, handling belts and glide and lock chair and bed systems can also be wiped down to ensure optimum infection prevention between users.

Helen Gutteridge, Technical Director at Hospital Direct, said: “Our products have been extremely valuable in supporting healthcare providers and carers to continue looking after people throughout the pandemic.

“I am delighted that this also means we can now boost the local economy by offering more full-time jobs in the county. We have already created 15 new roles and now have at least five vacancies in our sewing, cutting and despatch departments to ensure we can continue to meet the rising demand for our products. All of our new employees will receive full training so please contact us if you are interested,” she added.