Coronavirus: Burberry handed £573,000 PPE contract

The firm sourced masks through its supply chain and produced non-surgical gowns at its factory in Castleford

Luxury fashion house Burberry has been handed more than £500,000 to make PPE equipment for the NHS, according to government records.

In April, the firm said it would donate 100,000 items to healthcare workers and was praised by the Health Secretary.

Two months later, it was given a £573,000 contract to make gowns and protective equipment.

Burberry said it was "one of a list of other businesses that have been contracted to supply PPE".

The retailer's site in Castleford, West Yorkshire, retooled to produce the non-surgical gowns.

Burberry said the contract was completely separate to the donations, and its site was retooled before the contract.

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The contract was not advertised to other potential suppliers, government records showed.

EU rules allow the government to circumvent the usual processes if only one supplier is capable of delivering on the contract, or if unforeseen events mean that speed is vital.

During the early days of the pandemic several luxury fashion brands turned their production lines over to make desperately needed PPE.

Burberry has donated about 160,000 pieces of PPE to date to the NHS and healthcare charities since the pandemic started.

This has included the gowns made at its Castleford site and surgical masks that it bought abroad.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson 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."

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