Covid-19: Denroy wins £19.5m healthcare mask contract

Denroy will produce the masks at its new factory in Bangor

A County Down manufacturer best known for making hairbrushes and aircraft parts has won a £19.5m contract for FFP3 masks.

The deal has enabled Denroy to create 130 jobs at its new Bangor factory.

Aerospace engineers who were on furlough due to the coronavirus pandemic were brought back to work on the design of the new masks.

The firm decided to adapt after the pandemic led to an 80% drop in work for its aerospace division.

The contract with the Northern Ireland health service is for five million masks.

The company received £1.5m of financial support from Invest NI, the business development agency for Northern Ireland.

The company is best known for making Denman hairbrushes

Denroy chief executive Kevin McNamee said the company was proud of the ingenuity of its staff over the past year.

"Our plans are to grow our business further, create more jobs and build on this contract in our target markets of the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and the US in the coming year," he said.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds said: "Very early on in the pandemic Denroy took decisive action and repurposed to manufacture personal protective equipment.

"The company has moved quickly and has already recruited 130 jobs and hopes to grow further.

"These new roles will contribute £3.7m in annual salaries to the local economy."

It comes after aerospace firm Thompson Aero announced 180 job losses in Portadown, County Armagh, and Banbridge, County Down, on Tuesday.

Health Minister Robin Swann said the turnaround to design and manufacture a new product within six months was "remarkable".

He added: "While I applaud Denroy for its innovation and vision, I must also recognise the work of key health staff who worked closely with Denroy innovators to refine the mask and robustly test new prototypes to get this mask in production."