BPF makes Covid-19 critical supplier list publicly available

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) has launched an online portal to help organisations across the UK locate suppliers in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Companies who provide products vital to the UK’s response to Covid-19 are listed in one place, including those who can provide visors, ventilator parts, aprons, hand sanitiser bottles, clinical waste sacks and other key supplies.

The BPF has been contacted by over 100 different organisations, including UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments, the NHS, and organisations across the country, to help source suppliers who can provide critical supplies for frontline NHS workers as well as staff in other key sectors, such as manufacturing.

These requests have predominantly been for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but include other items key in the fight against coronavirus such as bottles and closures for hand sanitiser.

In response, the team at the BPF has been concentrating on helping to locate manufacturers and suppliers across the country in a coordinated attempt to protect the UK public.

As part of this effort, the BPF has helped play a role in ensuring millions of face shields, millions of hand sanitiser bottles, and hundreds of thousands of other urgent medical supplies have been provided to hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales.

Director General of the BPF, Philip Law, commented: “The BPF and its members have risen to the challenge faced by the NHS and industries across the country.

“Member companies have stepped up to transform and expand their manufacturing operations, working longer and harder to ensure we can provide the protective equipment and medical supplies the UK needs.

“We are also working closely with the government to access the specialist manufacturing equipment that is urgently needed.”

Law added that the BPF has been working alongside a number of Government departments, including the Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade, and the Department of Health and Social Care to provide information and feedback during the crisis.

The full list can be accessed here.