Protecting front line health workers has never been more important and one local company is at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus.

This unassuming company, based on the Westfield Industrial site, manufacture using a special microbial barrier material called SMMS - which is now being shipped all across the UK and sewn into medical gowns.

It is a remarkable story - not least because the company, Westfield Medical, turned its production around in just a few weeks to make the life-saving material available.

The company is quick to praise loyal and hardworking staff, including some new hands, who have come in just to help with the extra load.

This is Westfield Medical's remarkable story of its local contribution to fighting the global coronavirus pandemic.

Jouni Vikman, Sales & Marketing Director explained to Nub News.

"The NHS has been a major customer for Westfield Medical for many years and since the beginning of the current coronavirus crisis, the NHS has asked for help.

Once the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) has become apparent we have been asked specifically to manufacture material for PPE protective gowns.

Westfield Medical, being an essential operation, has been in a good position to respond positively to any NHS needs and within a few weeks we managed to ramp up a dedicated production line and have supplied a special type of microbial barrier material, SMMS, to several British manufacturing companies, who in turn have manufactured desperately needed PPE gowns for the NHS.

Westfield Medical continue to support NHS in their battle against the virus. They are currently looking to source exceptional quantities of the material used in protective gowns in order to keep NHS frontline workers properly equipped and protected from virus. "

Westfield Medical are also at the centre of work providing masks - or rather the packaging that allows masks to be re-sterlised and used more than once.

This is currently only allowed overseas and the company has already supplied mass packaging for the reuse of face masks all across the world.

Should the 're-use process' be cleared in the UK as well, Westfield Medical will have the capacity and capability to start supporting NHS for this application as well.

Jouni added that it had to move quickly to pivot the company around. "As a firm we understood that in this global health crisis that the NHS and other front-line workers had an immense task on securing adequate levels of PPE. This swiftly became a priority for us and all stakeholders were encouraged to devise how as a business we could assist, as PPE production has not previously been a heartland for Westfield Medical.

"A collective approach commenced with our materials being validated for use for PPE equipment by various NHS trusts. This validation gave us the green light to work incredibly hard to reduce our regular waiting time for materials wherever possible as it was understood this matter was extremely time sensitive.

Also, we strived to bring forward and increase orders of our raw materials from our suppliers to service this crucial supply challenge."

Chief Executive, James Vero admits it has been " lucky in that we have not had any cases of COVID-19 in our own workforce" so that they have been able to continue to run the factory (following the social distancing guidelines of course).

He said: " The whole team has pulled together and has been working hard to ensure we can support the NHS in its hour of need. "

The Management team is very grateful to the continued efforts made by everyone at Westfield Medical, and it has brought a great sense of pride to the company to know we can make a difference.

Several new innovative collaborations have been formed during this time, including with the University of Bath where staff have received the PPE materials and converted them to finished product ready for hospital - something far from their regular work. This was recently seen on the local TV news.

They have also been working closely with other hospitals including the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Trust to supply material to J Barbour & Sons in South Shields, Herbert Parkinson in Lancashire and Speedings Ltd in Sunderland; all of these factories are now making hospital gowns.

• Westfield Medical is a leading British developer, manufacturer and supplier of sterilisation packaging for healthcare facilities and medical device manufacturers. Established in 1968 and employing over 100 local people, their product range, consisting of sterilisation wrapping materials, pouches, paper bags and roll stock, is used in automatized and manual packing of terminally sterilised medical devices. Manufacturing is carried out in a clean-room environment complying with the most stringent medical quality standards.