A DEMAND for face masks is helping one business bounce back from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown. 

Cleckheaton-based LSi, a promotional merchandise company, has managed to secure business with high-profile names like Jägermeister and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for its branded, antibacterial face masks, which are washable and reusable.

In turn, this has enabled the firm to bring back a number of its furloughed workers and demand looks set to continue following the Government’s announcement that face coverings must be worn in shops and supermarkets from July 24 and dishing out £100 fines to those who don’t comply with the new rules. 

Like many other companies, LSi says it has adapted to the huge changes brought about by Covid-19, providing hand sanitiser as well as face masks. 
Company founder Lloyd Simpson said the attraction of the branded face masks is that they are a “walking billboard” for brands, like Jägermeister, while moving away from the medical look of some masks. 

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance sold 1,000 in three days and have placed another order with the company. 

“Fortunately we have been working with manufacturers around the world for 25 years - and most of them were saying to us face masks are a way of life in Asia - so we looked at manufacturing our own design weeks ago that we could print here in the UK,” said Mr Simpson.

LSi has invested £25,000 in printing machinery to get the operation and up and running and the company can now print 2,000 masks per day - and they are fully booked for the next two-and-a-half weeks.

Mr Simpson said: “We’re getting more and more people back to work, it feels like it’s coming back.”

At the heart of the effort is the firm’s determination to move on up from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, with the message: “We can do something and we are going to try.”

On Tuesday, it emerged face coverings will have to be worn in shops in England for the “foreseeable future” as part of the Government’s efforts to prevent a second wave of coronavirus.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there is no end date for the requirement to wear coverings and defended the move to make them compulsory. It came amid warnings that the move will deter shoppers just as high streets are reopening with the easing of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

However, Mr Hancock insisted the wearing of face coverings in shops and on public transport is essential to prevent the virus getting out of control again.