HSL expands business to deliver 13 million pieces of PPE to Health Services in NI and the Republic of Ireland
Leveraging their established global network of suppliers, local company Hospital Services Limited (HSL) has expanded its business to help the Health Services in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland by sourcing over 13 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to aid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The most recent deliveries arrived by chartered cargo flights, with over 100 truckloads to follow. These included a variety of gowns, masks and theatre caps which will play an important role for healthcare workers continuing to treat patients across the UK and Ireland.
A trusted long-term provider to the Health Services in the UK and Ireland, supplying radiology, ophthalmic, endoscopy and surgical equipment to over 225 public and private hospitals, HSL works to ensure the highest standards of patient care by sourcing and distributing specialist medical supplies, surgical equipment and consumable products and in recent months has diversified its offering to source and supply much-needed personal protective equipment to be used by front line workers.
Working closely with their network of suppliers, the team at HSL demonstrated its ability to make quick step-changes to serve the needs of those in the healthcare sector by expanding its offering and ensuring prompt delivery of the PPE to Belfast and Dublin, and onward to its customers across the island of Ireland.
To help accommodate the scale of this immediate demand, HSL received multi-million-pound support from its investment partner Foresight and long-term financial partner, Bank of Ireland UK. This immediate and short-term cash injection into the business enabled additional flexibility for HSL to increase its buying power in order to answer the surge of demand for PPE which persists across the UK and Ireland.
“With an established global network of suppliers, HSL was well-equipped to answer the call for additional PPE which has come from the Health Services across the UK and Ireland,” said Dominic Walsh, CEO, Hospital Services Limited. “We are proud to have the unique skillset to help answer the call for PPE and are thankful to Foresight and Bank of Ireland UK for enabling us to quickly increase our buying power in order to get these shipments of PPE here as quickly as possible.”
Paul McClurg Head of Business Banking Belfast at Bank of Ireland UK commented “We are delighted to support our customer HSL with a funding solution which is enabling them to diversify and expand their products and services in order to source and supply PPE to Health Services across the island of Ireland and so help the fight against Covid-19. They are a fantastic example of a local company adapting to the needs of the marketplace and their customers.”
James Livingston, Partner of Foresight Group added, “We have been most impressed by the speed with which the management team at HSL has been able to respond to the specific needs of the health sector and health workers throughout the crisis. We were pleased to be able to promptly put in place the additional financial support required to help deliver the equipment in the timescale required.”
HSL continues to organise land and air deliveries of high-quality PPE which is being disbursed across the UK and Ireland through its partnerships with the Health Services.