I am sure you have heard that Magherafelt based blind manufacturer, Bloc Blinds have re-purposed their own factory on Station Road and transformed Meadowbank Sports Arena to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Overnight, Bloc Blinds went from winding down production to ramping it up. In order to comply with social distancing requirements, Bloc Blinds knew they would need more space so they approached Mid Ulster District Council, which runs the Meadowbank Sports Arena; they said yes immediately.
Inside the arena, workers are assigned their own table set up in rows; each is the appropriate distance apart. Between them are poles – normally supplied with the company’s blinds – which are used to hook and drag boxes from one table to another, to minimise contact.
A large white tent houses the sterile unit, where the finished visors are cleaned and packed for delivery. Including visors supplied in kit form, the firm aims to dispatch 2.8 million per week. It has gone from temporarily laying staff off to recruiting for more.
Bloc Blinds are a long-standing client, have asked Riada to recruit 220 workers to start work over the next week.
The immediate requirement of 220 additional workers has come after Bloc Blinds have joined forces with Global packaging company, Huhtamaki to massively increase the production of the PPE. They are set to deliver millions of Bloc FaceShields for HSCNI Business Services Organisation over the next 12 weeks producing 500,000 face shields daily.
In the middle of these unprecedented times, we see how businesses and communities can come together to achieve the seemingly impossible and something unthinkable only just one month ago. The team at Riada are extremely proud of what our client Bloc Blinds have achieved so far and are delighted to be part of the drive to deliver PPE to the NHS and employment to NI.
The application response so far has been fantastic, Bloc already has around 200 people working away making the face shields, entire families are #WorkingTogether, the positive community spirit is inspiring. If you and your family or friends would like to join us please help us spread the word.
If you are over 16yrs of age and would like to be part of this team and work on the assembly lines in Magherafelt contact Riada Resourcing.
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