This week saw our client Woodland Group, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned global supply chain companies with headquarters in Essex, deliver the first of several PPE orders from China to two local councils in the UK. The initial 200,000 protective face masks were secured by the Essex County Council (ECC) to support critical needs across the social care sector in Essex and neighbouring counties, including Norfolk, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In support of the ECC’s International Trade team, Woodland Group provided their tried and tested end to end procurement support system to ensure costs were kept low, appropriate inspections took place and the correct customs documentation was organised before delivering the equipment successfully to the council’s dedicated storage facility this week.
Due to the national shortage of PPE, local councils have proactively put plans in place to establish local supply chains in order to meet urgent local need and the local expert teams at Woodland Group are proud to provide procurement and logistics support to deliver vital equipment to communities across the UK.
This includes quality checks, shipping insurance, currency and payment support and door-to-door shipping solutions, including staggered shipments of stock for large orders of PPE.
While several additional deliveries of PPE will arrive in the UK for the ECC and Norfolk County Council over the coming weeks, other councils across the country in need of PPE sourcing support can get in touch to benefit from the experience of the ECC and Woodland Group in identifying suppliers, performing due diligence and liaising on prices and minimum orders before navigating customs processes, quality checks and suitable logistics solutions within 2-3 week lead times.
Cllr David Finch, Leader of Essex County Council, said:
“While we know the government is doing everything they can to get more PPE to the care sector, in Essex we have been very clear that we cannot sit around and wait for this to happen. The national PPE shortage will not be solved overnight and so we have been actively working on our own solutions. It is of paramount importance that care staff are protected so that they can carry out their vital duties to keep residents safe.”
Councillor Andrew Jamieson, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “Norfolk County Council has now sourced millions of items of PPE to protect care workers in Norfolk, and having direct supply from the Chinese manufacturers as one of our routes provides better value for the taxpayer and makes us less dependent on middlemen.
It has been hugely beneficial to have Essex’ expertise alongside our own sourcing team, and Woodland Group have been exemplary in arranging inspection and airfreight so we could get quality PPE to the front line quickly.”
Kevin Stevens, CEO and Chairman of Woodland Group, commented: “It’s fantastic to have been able to support our local Essex County Council as well as Norfolk County Council in procuring much needed PPE. Our dedicated COVID-19 Rapid Response team has been working with local government authorities, trusts, commercial organisations and charities to assist the fight against COVID-19 and thanks to the support of our own offices across Asia, the USA, the UK and Ireland as well as our network of trusted suppliers and carriers, we are able to deliver vital equipment to protect local communities.”
For further information, imagery and/or to cover any of the upcoming deliveries, please contact the ROOTS team.
