27th April 2020

The Royal Mint has today announced that it will make 1.9 million medical visors for the NHS in England and Wales to help protect medical workers.  

The South Wales based firm, more commonly known for making coins and investment products, has transformed its visitor attraction into an emergency production line - making over 100,000 medical visors per week exclusively for the NHS.

Over 150,000 medical visors have already been made, with further supplies reaching hospitals across Britain shortly. Wearing a visor helps to protect medical staff from exposure to Coronavirus, and it was designed in consultation with staff at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital to ensure it was comfortable and durable. 

The Chancellor, and Master of the Mint, Rishi Sunak said: “It’s vital our brave NHS workers have the protective equipment they need to safely care for those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

“I applaud the Royal Mint for refocusing their efforts and working around the clock to play their part during this national emergency.”

The Royal Mint began making medical visors last month, after their engineers created a design in just 48 hours and became the first firm in the UK to secure BSI safety approval. They have worked with their supply chain across the UK – including Brammer, TJ Morgan and Technical Foam – to source the materials to mass manufacture the design.

Anne Jessopp, Chief Executive of The Royal Mint said: “We want to play our part in the fight against Coronavirus by providing NHS staff with the protective equipment they need to keep the nation and themselves safe.

“When people think of The Royal Mint they think about the coins in their pockets, but we’ve been making useful products for the nation for 1,100 years and have a team of skilled designers, engineers and production staff. Together they turned a rudimentary visor design into a working model in just 48 hours, and within a week we were manufacturing thousands per day.”

In addition to producing medical visors, The Royal Mint has worked closely with the NHS to provide other support – including helping to design and print Covid awareness cards for NHS workers in Cwm Taf Health Authority.