Fife firm joins effort to produce 10,000 ventilators for NHS

A Fife firm is part of a national effort to design and produce more ventilators for the NHS and social care sector.

Raytheon UK, which has a base at Queensway Industrial Estate in Glenrothes, is part of a project being led by Babcock to design and produce 10,000 ventilators.

It is in response to the UK Government's request for help form industry.

Raytheon, which employs 560 people at its manufacturing Glenrothes, is a major supplier to the UK Ministry of Defence. It will play a part in the assembly and production of the equipment, along with Plexus

The Scottish Government has welcomed the involvement of these firms as they join a number of internationally renowned companies focused on accelerating ventilator capacity for the NHS across the UK.

Ivan McKeen, minister for trade, investment and innovation, said: "I welcome the announcement by Babcock International Group to produce 10,000 ventilators for the NHS and I am very proud that Scottish based companies like Plexus and Raytheon UK are playing their part in this crucial supply chain.

"These companies are at the vanguard of efforts to manufacture more ventilators as part of UK-wide efforts to tackle Covid-19. Plexus and Raytheon UK have been supported by Scottish Enterprise to facilitate their involvement in vital efforts to increase capacity for the NHS and the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise remain in contact to provide any operational support they require.

"Ventilators are hugely complex devices that normally require time to be designed and tested, so the speed with which Plexus and Raytheon UK, as part of the Babcock supply chain, have responded to push forward sizeable production is commendable. They and their staff are working round the clock and are a credit to Scottish manufacturing."