GMCA approves £1.4m loan to Private White to manufacture vital PPE

At today’s meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Leaders agreed to approve a loan of up to £1.4m to Salford-based Private White VC Limited to manufacture much needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline services. The loan agreement is subject to due diligence.

Private White, established in 2012, is a luxury clothing brand with all products manufactured in a factory in Salford. The company primarily retails online and through wholesalers into luxury retailers. The company sources 90% of all raw materials from the UK, using local suppliers. It recently applied for and won two government contracts to produce PPE for the NHS. As a result, the company requested a further loan of up to £1.4m to support its working capital requirement to deliver the contracts.

The GMCA maintains and develops a pipeline of projects submitted by applicants seeking funding from the Combined Authority’s Core Investment Funds allocation. These projects are assessed against criteria based on the Greater Manchester Investment Strategy, developed to underpin the economic growth of Greater Manchester. A condition of investments is that the companies sign up as a supporter of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter.

The proposed investment will be made from recycled interest that has been earned from recycled funds.

The sourcing of PPE for frontline services in Greater Manchester in response to the Covid-19 crisis saw the Greater Manchester PPE Taskforce set up to provide a central system of procurement and distribution to make sure services have the right type of PPE when they need it. Stock is being shared with the NHS, social care, GMP, GMFRS, and any other service who needs it.

The Taskforce is made up of partners from the GMCA, MIDAS (Manchester’s inward investment agency with international business contacts), Growth Company, Health and Social Care Partnership and local authorities.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: “This loan is a great investment in a local business. Given the challenges the city-region has faced in securing PPE, the loan for Private White will help secure a home-grown supplier of essential stock as the health pandemic continues to affect us.”

James Eden, CEO of Private White said: “I’m delighted that our application for an investment loan from the GMCA has been approved today. Our trade has been in luxury clothes manufacturing but the coronavirus crisis has led to us to change what we do to help the national health crisis efforts and produce PPE. This loan will help us to scale up our efforts and make sure our nurses, doctors and care workers have what they need to keep themselves safe.”

Cllr David Molyneux, GMCA Portfolio Lead for Investment and Resources added: “We take our role in investing public money very seriously and we have strict criteria in place including a commitment to the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter. The loan we are offering Private White has been through our rigorous process and, subject to due diligence, I’m pleased that we are able to give this loan to a company rooted in Greater Manchester to produce vital e    equipment.”

Article Published: 26/06/2020 15:05 PM