Valleys Company Gives South Wales Business Community A Helping Hand As They Emerge From Lockdown

Rhondda based Screentec, is utilising it’s staff, materials and office space to support other businesses in the area as they make plans to reopen. This  follows Mark Drakeford’s recent announcement that non-essential retailers could re-open from Monday 22 June.

After working with local authorities to supply face shields for their key workers, Screentec decided to keep producing the masks and help other businesses in the area who have been adversely affected by the closure orders.

The company is now giving away 10 free face shields for the first 1000 businesses in South Wales in the coming weeks. To date, Screentec have produced over 600,000 face shields and are currently running 24 hours/day to keep up with demand.

Screentec, originated as a screen printer in Ferndale in 1998 and has grown to support a staff of 25. They even spawned a number of other businesses in the group, including Riskmonitor, Webfibre and more recently, Llantrisant based co-working space, SBARCT.

FREE FACE SHIELDS – A LEG UP FOR OTHER BUSINESSES 

Like other commercial businesses in RCT, Screentec was rocked by the lockdown and had to furlough more than half its staff. But they took steps early on to mobilize a small team of staff, family and volunteers to support the NHS and key workers using the equipment and expertise already at their disposal. They also brought several staff back off furlough to help.

From a makeshift base at their sister company Riskmonitor’s base in Llantrisant, Screentec developed a prototype face shield which has since become CE Certified.  Within a matter of hours, they were refining the manufacturing and assembly process to make them cheaper to produce, easier to assemble and more comfortable to wear for long periods by frontline staff.

This shift in focus evolved to include sneeze guards, safety posters, safety signs and floor graphics and has enabled Screentec to safeguard 20 jobs. In the last week alone they have produced more than 100,000 floor signs for one of the largest Local Authorities in Wales.

Screentec’s Managing Director Tom Dean says:
“It’s been devastating to see local businesses struggling in the wake of the closures brought about by the virus. We weren’t prepared to sit it out and wait or hope for the best. We had to throw everything we had into the production of face shields. We could also see that the PPE shortage wasn’t only affecting the NHS, small businesses all over the area are also struggling to get their hands on what they need.”

“Giving away these Face Shields is just a small way we could tangibly support other small businesses in the area to be able to open safely and begin serving their communities again.  We’re well aware we’ve weathered a very difficult time for small businesses and we want to support others so we can all get back to work safely….”