Marshalls is donating 100 tonnes of screed to help the construction of a Covid-19 hospital in central Manchester.

The hospital will have 1000 beds and is being built at the Manchester Central Conference Centre (formerly the GMEX Centre). The floor of the hospital needs to be suitable to take the weight of army vehicles, ambulances and other vital vehicles that will be connected to the running of the hospital.

Marshalls was brought into the project on Friday 27 March and began supplying screed immediately. The company opened its manufacturing site over the weekend to keep up with demand.

Nick Bebb, Managing Director of Marshalls Premier Mortars & Screeds, said: “The importance of this facility to the wider Manchester community will no doubt be demonstrated in the coming weeks and we are proud to be a supplier to this site. We are also proud to have a team at Marshalls Premier Mortars who are committed to providing this essential service to our customers.”

John Pearce, CEO of Made in Britain, said: "It's fantastic to see Marshalls making such a gesture and I am proud it is a member of Made in Britain. It's a shining example of a caring company. More than 20 per cent of Made in Britain member companies are in the construction sector and we have heard lots of stories of support for the combined effort to combat the coronavirus. Many members also supply the healthcare sector and I have been amazed by the effort businesses are putting in to support the NHS."

Infrastructure contactor Excalon is constructing the hospital floor and is part of the taskforce committee who are building and preparing the Covid-19 hospital. 

Julie Sutherland Support Services Director from Excalon said: “We are very grateful to Marshalls Premier Mortars for their quick response to this order. This is an incredibly time sensitive project at a time when a lot of companies have already made the difficult decisions to stop production. “ 

As with all Marshalls manufacturing sites that are still in operation, everyone is working safely and able to adhere to the Public Health guidelines. The company announced last week that those of its employees who have been put on a three week furlough, will see their wages topped up to 100% for the period, although the government help package only covers 80% of salary.