Managing director Richard Hagan had been contacting his customers to say he was closing the factory down when he received the emergency order from Lancashire based Teal HealthCare & LifeCare, who are a key supplier to the NHS. He explained: “We do a lot of work with hotels, restaurants, shopfitting, retailers and even prisons but 10 per cent of our work is in the healthcare sector.

“We were preparing to close the factory down and I did a final ring-round of our customers when Teal said they needed several thousand items of furniture for the NHS and they needed them now. “The value order was £140,000 and included overbed tops, side tables and cupboards required by the NHS to create makeshift treatment centres.

“Crystal Doors use a special anti-bacterial material to make our furniture and that’s vital in the NHS.” Hagan immediately contacted his 34-strong workforce and asked for volunteers to make up the order.

“The health and safety of our staff is the most important thing and nobody was under any pressure,” he said. “Because we’re a heavily automated manufacturer we don’t need a big staff so we’re able to run it with 10 staff and four in reserve in case they get ill. “Because we only have 10 staff in the factory there’s no problem with social distancing. It makes me incredibly proud that Crystal Doors is able to play part in the national response to coronavirus.”