Business resilience in Ashford: ITL Group

As a full-service medical technology development, design and manufacturing company, ITL Group (a G&H company) has adopted a company-wide effort to increase its critical instrument production since the outbreak of coronavirus.

Similarly to several other businesses within the borough, ITL has adapted to meet customer demand during the Covid-19 crisis. This has involved slowing down the production of new products to focus resources and increasing the volumes of existing, much-needed medical devices.

Tom Ackrill, Business Development Manager at ITL, explains that the company credits its Ashford employees for being able to increase output: “During these uncertain times, it has very much been all hands to all pumps. Our staff have shown an admirable willingness to work above and beyond, including evenings and weekends to meet our demand. This has meant we could fulfil orders, which are essential to the healthcare system. Ultimately, the reason we can do what we do, is our people!

“While the company remains operational, we are doing everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our employees. This includes additional measures onsite to support social distancing, those that are able to work remotely are doing so and those that are considered in the ‘at risk’ category have been furloughed, if they are unable to work remotely.”

ITL has seen an increase in orders and business is up, but the company is not without its challenges. The pandemic has meant that new business is down, timescales are shortened and there are difficulties in maintaining the supply chain.

“Understandably new business and our ability to plan more longer term has been affected, but our biggest challenge is maintaining our supply chain. That said, our team is working hard to get the parts we need and prioritising where necessary. We are also using local suppliers, as we want to support other Ashford and Kent businesses wherever possible during this time of crisis.”

Despite these challenges, other than furloughing a few members of staff, ITL hasn’t yet had to rely on any government support.

Tom concludes: “The current situation has obviously changed the way we operate, but I’d say largely we are weathering things quite well. As a company, we are small enough to be flexible, but large enough to have the cash flow.”