The Corby companies at the cutting edge of the fight against coronavirus

It's in towns like Corby that slick supply chains, finely-balanced logistics operations, well-stocked warehouses and mass food production have been ready for this pandemic well before anyone else realised it was about to take hold.

Thousands of local people who won't pause for breath will keep people alive and prepared while doctors and nurses work around the clock saving lives in our hospitals.

Most of these companies have seamlessly opened up extra capacity to help our country cope with the crisis, that has already claimed 281 lives in the UK.

Corby-based Proact Medical distributes vital supplies to our NHS hospitals, including thermometers, intubation items for critical care, crucial ventilation, anesthetic and resuscitation equipment, and monitoring products. They've been in the town for 20 years and employ 53 people.

Managing director Neil Manners says his industry has been well prepared for this for months.

"Luckily we were asked by the Government and by the NHS to build up stock for Brexit," he says.

"We were sitting on huge stocks so recently took the decision to start running stocks down. You never know how things are going to pan out, do you?

"We work very closely with the NHS supply chain. I would say demand has gone up by about 35 per cent so far. It's been the past two weeks really, when it's gone crazy.

"Thankfully we reviewed our stocks some months ago when this first happened in China."

Lots of the company's product are manufactured in the Far East, so has the outbreak there meant that it's been difficult for Proact the import stock to help fight the pandemic in this country? Not really, because of some neat forward planning and a piece of luck.

"It was Chinese New Year when this really took hold over there," says Neil. "So all the factories there were already shutting down and we were prepared for that.

"There's a two week delay for stock getting over here so when the Chinese workers didn't come back after three weeks, we knew there might be some supply issues but we had good plans in place.

"We have good relationships with our suppliers and have huge extra orders with them."

Neil says he's confident the country can come through the crisis.

"The advice is changing daily so it's difficult for people to know what to do," he said.

"But we have not seen anything like this since the second world war. We need to be pulling the country together. There's no point in panicking.

"Companies need to be responsible. There's no profiteering going on here. People will remember those companies who acted badly.

"We're checking our staff to make sure they're well and everyone who can work from home will be doing."

Pluswipes Limited was started in a small industrial unit in Corby in 2004 by local businessman Marten Teasdale-Brown. The business now employs 85 people on the Willowbrook Industrial Estate and its products manufactured right here in our town are now playing a crucial part in the UK's battle against Coronavirus.

Part of the PDI Group, a global leader in infection control, the company manufactures a staggering 22 million disinfecting and cleaning wipes products each year most of which are destined for use by the medical sector - including the NHS.

The Covid-19 crisis has increased demand for these products to unprecedented levels as healthcare professionals see them as a crucial weapon in the battle to defeat this deadly virus.

Productivity at the Corby plant has increased rapidly to meet the demand with the aim of supplying disinfectant wipes products to key and critical areas across the UK

Managing director Marten Teasdale Brown is keen to point out the role of gutsy Corby employees in helping the business to meet its social responsibilities and contributions toward tackling Covid-19.

“Our employees are hard-working and flexible no more so than at this moment in time," says Marten.

"They share the nation's values and are showing this by helping the company to make products that can help in this daily fight and, ultimately, this can help save lives”.

Pluswipes produces clinically proven wet-wipes with highly sophisticated infection prevention and control formulations sold across the workd. Each of their wipes is designed to remove deadly pathogens, like coronavirus, off surfaces and hands.

"Over the forthcoming weeks the aim of the business is to get these products into the hands of those that need them the most as quickly as possible and our hard-working staff are at the forefront of making this happen."

When Phil Edwards started a carpet cleaning business in 1984, he could never have envisaged that his firm White Knight Disaster Restoration would be at the forefront of the clean up for companies who have had coronavirus cases in their premises.

Based at the Corby Innovation Hub in Bangrave Road, the company is gearing up to specialise in Covid-19 decontamination.

"I moved to the states and started doing fire clean ups, then meth labs and the scenes of some violent deaths," says Phil, matter-of-factly.

"I became interested in the health implications of the work. When you're doing trauma clean-ups you have issues with blood-borne pathogens that could be dangerous. This was when HIV was becoming more common."

The firm has a clean-up system that is at the cutting-edge of the fight in coronavirus.

"We used this system in the States for ten years. It was developed by the US government for killing off weaponised anthrax," says Phil, who has nine employees in Corby.

Their misting system can decontaminate a whole room - including operating theatres - in just seven minutes. It meets medical-grade requirements and leaves behind only 1 in 1,000,000 spores, bacteria or viruses.

"We're expecting a big surge in business when offices start to reopen fully. People want to come in and be sure that the place is not contaminated. Every time someone with the virus comes into work, it gets recontaminated.

"But we've been dealing with all sorts of viruses for 30-odd years.

"We also know how to protect our staff so we aren't concerned about getting the virus while working. Our PPE equipment means we could walk into a room full of cyanide and walk out with no ill effects.

"If we pick it up, we're going to pick it up from somewhere else.

"Fighting this is going to be a community effort.

"Everybody is going to have to be helping.

"People don't know what's coming. There's a eerie silence at the moment, but the aftermath is exactly what we're used to."