Fox Bros, based at Wardleworth Way in Wellington, has put more staff on furlough but remains upbeat in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company, which proclaims itself ‘makers of the world’s finest flannel’ on its website, has put menders on furlough over the last two weeks following mill staff at the start of July. Sales staff, however, are still working.

The firm, where Deborah Meaden from the BBC television programme Dragons’ Den is a director and shareholder, employs 37 staff and has made no redundancies.

Operations director Deborah Wholey told the WWN this is normally a quiet time of year for the business with fabrics produced in spring going out to garment-making factories in summer to make products for autumn and winter. The company also had enough stock to fulfil orders coming in.

She said: “Orders are not a huge amount behind last year and are coming in daily from all over the world. Some countries have been more affected by the pandemic and others less so.

“The right thing now is to be prudent and careful with our money. The Government furlough scheme helps businesses maintain business health and liquidity, so we’re utilising it.

“We have quite a skilled workforce and we don’t want to lose that skill.”