Coronavirus: Car registration firm turns to making 'sneeze guards'
- Published
Jonathan Hartley, sales and marketing director at Jepson & Co
A Sheffield firm that normally makes registration plates for bespoke cars has switched to manufacturing "sneeze guards" during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Jepson and Co was established in 1894 making hand-painted wooden signs, but now makes thermoplastic number plates.
The company said the sneeze guards are for "high-traffic workplaces".
It has changed its production work in a national crisis before, with its factory workers assembling steel helmets in World War One.
Jo Hackett, of the firm, said: "We started as a man with a paint pot - our current chairman's great-grandfather George Henry Jepson - painting registrations and signage on trains and colliery wagons.
"We've always innovated as a business and created many a new product over the years.
Jepson & Co switched to assembling steel helmets for soldiers in World War One
"This year, to help frontline workers fight Covid-19, we've switched part of our plastics shaping and print production to create transparent personal protection barriers to help our customers serve their customers in safety."
Jepson said they designed two sizes of Perspex sneeze guards to go on countertops and flat surfaces, in line with government guidelines,
Jepson said: "In appreciation of our essential frontline healthcare workers, we donate 10% of our Sneeze Guard profits to the NHS charity Food4Heroes".
Workers are now cutting sneeze guards at the factory in Heeley
RISK AT WORK: How exposed is your job?
SCHOOLS: When will children be returning?
EXERCISE: What are the guidelines on getting out?
THE R NUMBER: What it means and why it matters
RECOVERY: How long does it take to get better?
