Burberry given £500,000 to make PPE equipment for the NHS

‘This partnership with Burberry is already benefiting the frontline,’ says department of health and social care

Burberry has been given more than £500,000 to make PPE equipment for the NHS, government records state.

The luxury retailer has been donating gowns and protective equipment for medical workers from its retail site in West Yorkshire since the beginning of lockdown in April.

Thus far, the brand has produced roughly 160,000 items of PPE since the pandemic began.

Now, Burberry has been given £573,000 to produce PPE from its Castleford site.

“We’re proud to extend the support we have provided to the national relief effort by manufacturing personal protective equipment and supplying it at cost,” a spokesperson for Burberry said in a statement.

“Earlier this year, we donated more than 160,000 pieces of PPE to the National Health Service and healthcare charities that we manufactured at our trench coat factory in Castleford, Yorkshire and sourced through our supply chain. We are very pleased to be able to continue to help by using our production line to make non-surgical gowns and masks for medical and care workers.”

Burberry also stated that it was “one of a list of other businesses that have been contracted to supply PPE”.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “This partnership with Burberry is already benefitting the frontline and is one of many deals we have made with UK manufacturers to rapidly manufacture, source or distribute PPE to health and social care workers at scale and pace.

“It is thanks to these deals that we have now delivered over three billion items of PPE to the frontline.”

The news comes after Burberry revealed it was also funding research into a single-dose vaccine developed by the University of Oxford.

“The university has one of the world’s best track records in emergency vaccine development, and its Covid-19 vaccine is on course to begin human trials next month,” reads a post on the house’s Instagram page.

The university is a world-leader in emergency vaccine development, with past success in fighting Ebola and MERS.

While the amount donated has not been disclosed, Professor Gavin Screaton, head of medical sciences at the University of Oxford, said at the time that he was excited by the impact the funds would have.

“We are delighted with Burberry’s generous support for the University’s research into a vaccine for COVID-19,” he said.

“Burberry’s gift is an example of forward-thinking corporate philanthropy that complements and bolsters government and other investment in Oxford’s leading global talent in this field.”