Kind offer to make free scrubs lands business with up to 40 new jobs
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Eoin Lennon with the Finished Scrubs at Ardee Coach Trim Pic Seamus FarrellyImage 2 of 4
Eoin Lennon with the finished scrubs manufactured at Ardee Coach Trim.Image 3 of 4
Cutting the Scrubs at Ardee Coach Trim Pics Seamus FarrellyImage 4 of 4
Getting the Scrubs Ready at Ardee Coach TrimA kind-hearted offer to voluntary make colourful scrubs for frontline staff has led to a new business with up to 40 more jobs for an Ardee-based company.
Ardee Coach Trim used their staff to answer an appeal for scrubs in April after discovering that doctors and nurses had to bring home their own to wash and reuse them due to a chronic shortage. The locally sourced scrubs were also used by palliative care nurses while visiting elderly clients who were preferring to stay at home surrounded by their loved ones than go into hospital while visitor restrictions are in place.
The local business originally budgeted to produce 800 free sets of scrubs but continued production after a deluge of public support amounted to almost €12,000 in donations through a GoFundMe page.
However the benevolent gesture has led to a business success with a new company and up to 40 jobs.
"We are just finalising a contract at present to make 500,000 gowns for the HSE and a private company has also commissioned us to provide them with a further 80,000, which we are about half-way to completion," said General Manager Eoin Lennon.
"We have just registered a new company ACT Medical Supplies Ltd to solely work as a provider of PPE for all sectors and it's hoped that this will create up to 40 new jobs
"At the moment 70 of our 110 workers are making PPE while we are also undertaking essential refurbishments for the public transport operators.
"I just can't believe how this story has developed. I just wanted to do something ourselves to help frontline staff because I thought it was terrible that doctors and nurses were washing their PPE at home and possibly exposing their families to germs
"But then we were inundated with people ringing up Ardee Trim Coach and offering donations to keep production going so we had to open up a GoFundMe page to keep track of things.
"However, we closed the page when we were approached by the HSE and other businesses with contracts.
"All this just ballooned out of nowhere. I would never have dreamed that a simple offer to help would lead to a new business and new jobs for the Ardee area."