A CRICKLADE company started manufacturing temporary partitions to protect manufacturing staff working during the pandemic.

Customers of packaging and material handling specialist GWP Correx kept contacting the company for help with similar products so the team made their own.

They are designed to separate workers at companies making pharmaceutical, medical, food and specialist equipment.

Managing director Ian Cook said: “An increasing number of companies we worked with previously were asking us if we could help in creating screens from Correx plastic in light of current guidelines on staff safety.

"As these screens can potentially add an additional layer of protection for employees, the logical progression was to create a design that could be quickly and easily adapted to almost any environment.

“As a result, we have been manufacturing these partitions to customers' specific requirements and configurations, tailoring them to specific workstations, packing bays, assembly lines and even desks.”

The company designed these partitions to be more compatible, easier to clean and rearrange than those made out of other materials.

GWP Correx is part of The GWP Group, which is still fully operational during the coronavirus outbreak. It supports large food delivery companies, as well as many businesses supplying products directly into the NHS.

Business development director Ian Heskins said: “As a business, we wanted to make sure we could continue helping our customers that are either supplying crucial goods and services, and those – such as ecommerce businesses – who are seeing a spike in demand.

“While the primary focus has been on the safety of our staff, we have manufacturing partners around the UK that can assist with production if required. Our material supply chain is also robust thanks to being part of owners of the Corrboard corrugator plant.

“These measures mean we are in a position where we can support our existing customer base and extend this to other businesses that may be struggling to source their packaging. We are offering help with manufacturing capacity for other packaging businesses.”

Celebrating 30 years in business later in 2020, GWP now employs over 100 people at locations in Cricklade and Salisbury, designing and manufacturing a wide range packaging products.

For information about GWP and the temporary partitions, visit www.gwp.co.uk/partitions