Mark Gough from ITV Central News visits Netherton Foundry in Shropshire
On the evening of the 28th April we all sat down to watch ITV Central News. Reporter Mark Gough had interviewed Neil at the Netherton Foundry works, asking how business has been changed by the corona virus lock-down. Click the video to watch the one minute news story and best of all get to see Carl, Mandy and Nataley making our iconic pans.
You can find out what Mark Gough is up to on twitter @MarkGoughITV
Our thoughts on the lock-down and standing in-front of the camera lens..
We are living in strange times, surreal and unsettling you might say. The corona virus pandemic has changed the way we work, the way companies operate, upended what we take for granted, challenged our view of the world, of what we expect our daily lives to be like. Here, however, is a glimpse of the ordinary and the extraordinary that has been happening at the workshops and in the wider Midlands area.
Our world of work has both shrunk and grown during the corona virus lockdown. We have sent half of our crew off to work from home, handling all the paperwork and telephone calls remotely, whilst Neil, Carl, Mandy and Nataley hold the fort here at the workshops in splendid isolation! Still making, packing, despatching our classic cookware. But whilst the workforce on site has shrunk, our order book and our geographic reach has grown and grown. Our DPD driver has had to bring a bigger van to pick up the daily orders! And those orders are going all over the UK, but also all over the world. A hub of international commerce, operating in a quiet corner of Shropshire. We have sent deliveries to Alaska and Hawaii; from Finland to Greece and halfway round the world to Australia and New Zealand.
We thought that we had better just get our heads down and get on with it, like many others who can continue to work through this, mindful of those who can’t and grateful to our suppliers and customers alike.
But all of our activity has come to the attention of the local news team at ITV Central, looking for news stories beyond the daily pandemic statistics, who sent out reporter Mark Gough, to see what was happening in Highley. Mark arrived, suitably equipped with all the appropriate physically distancing kit, to talk to us about what we are up to.
Of course, in normal circumstances, we would have invited him in, shown him round, made him a cup of tea, but he had to make do with long lens shots through the fire door and from the car park. He put together this great piece, with shots of everyone doing their bit to get cookware and bakeware off to all those people experimenting and learning in their kitchens.
Mark has also done a feature on a fantastic initiative called Open Kitchens, where chefs are using their restaurant kitchens and bulk bought or donated ingredients to make meals, for only £1.70 each, for people most in need at this difficult and challenging time. We were truly inspired by all the people involved in this enterprise.
CLICK the video below to see the complete 3 minute report featuring Mark Gough, Netherton Foundry and then Open Kitchens:
