Funding for textile firm’s PPE mission

Forfar textile firm Don & Low has received multi-million-pound Scottish Government support to buy a specialised machine for the production of material to be used in top-grade respirators for the coronavirus fight.

The Scottish Government, via Scottish Enterprise, has agreed to provide the Angus company with up to £3.6 million towards the £4.5m purchase, import and installation of the equipment for their plant on Glamis Road.

The machine is the size of a doubledecker bus and has been sourced from a supplier in Germany. It is due to arrive at the Forfar plant in 14 lorry containers.

Once operational, the factory will produce meltblown material filter fabric for use in FFP3 masks, the highest designation of respirator.

It will make Don & Low one of a handful of companies in Europe capable of supplying the filter material used to make the respirator masks.

Scottish Government Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation Ivan Mckee said: “Covid-19 isn’t going away any time soon, so while we have enough masks to protect our frontline health and social care workers now, we are also taking a long-term view to build PPE manufacturing capability in Scotland to meet future need.”

Don & Low director Colin Johnson said: “We are pleased to be supported in making this new investment that will allow us to use our existing expertise to address the shortages of these key materials during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.”

The Don & Low site in Forfar.