The new factory will have an overall build cost of £12m part of Alpha Solway’s total investment into the Dumfries and Galloway region of more than £33m.

The Annan-based company is part of Globus Group, which has 25 years of heritage and expertise in PPE. Globus is to more than match the SOSE funds in a ground-breaking collaboration designed to boost the Scottish economy, cement the long-term future of manufacturing in the region and support the local community.

The first phase of development on the 15-acre site, based at Gilnockie Business Park, Dumfries is scheduled to be fully operational by the summer. It will play a key part in Alpha Solway’s ongoing major contribution to protecting NHS workers tackling Covid 19. Last summer the company won a contract with the Scottish Government to ensure frontline NHS staff have high quality PPE throughout the pandemic and beyond.

The development will see the creation of more than 300 new jobs, bringing the total recruited by Globus, since last autumn, to over 1,000 by the end of 2021, making the company the biggest British PPE manufacturer and one of the largest private sector employers in the South of Scotland region.

A second phase to build another world-class PPE plant in Annan will break ground later this year. The public-private partnership investment in the two new facilities represents a vote of confidence in the Scottish economy and recognition of the enduring value and appeal of ‘Made in the UK’ products for healthcare and industry sectors internationally.

Globus Group committed to 75% UK manufacturing last year amid the disruption to the global PPE supply chain caused by Coronavirus. Two facilities were launched by the business in 2020 in Dumfries, Scotland, and Warrington, North West England.

At full capacity, the business will produce one billion medical masks and 300 million FFP respirators per annum.

Steven Binnie, Alpha Solway director, said: “We’re thrilled and honoured to have been awarded this funding by the South of Scotland Enterprise.

“We are totally committed to the Scottish economy and the South of Scotland communities, so our aims have so much in common with SOSE. It takes real vision and innovative thinking on all sides to develop this kind of public-private partnership which will deliver real long-term benefits for the region and for the NHS workers and others who rely on our products.

“The site will create around 300 sustainable new jobs for the community, driving the local economy forward. The announcement of the new facility has cemented our long-term commitment to having 75% of our products made in the UK – as quickly as we could. Alpha Solway has the expertise, resilience and reliability in respiratory PPE and SOSE has helped to drive forward our expansion plans to create the fast solutions required by the NHS healthcare market.”