Michael Gove and Matt Hancock Go Britspun

Michael Gove and Matt Hancock Go Britspun

As the Government was preparing to unveil new rules on mask-wearing this week, both Michael Gove and Matt Hancock chose to cover up with English Fine Cottons Cough Catchers.

From today, face coverings will have to be worn in shops, supermarkets and enclosed shopping centres as well as train stations, banks, post offices, building societies, bus stations and airports. And anybody who doesn't, with a few exceptions, will face a fine of up to £100.

Following criticism that he visited a sandwich shop bare-faced, Mr Gove was spotted in Westminster wearing our NHS Rainbow Cough Catcher, while Mr Hancock was photographed yesterday in a plain white version bearing the NHS logo.

English Fine Cottons' director and general manager Andy Ogden said samples of the Cough Catcher were sent to the health secretary's office some weeks ago, but nobody knew the ministers had chosen to wear them.

Andy said: "What better endorsement then two senior ministers, including the health secretary, choosing to wear our face covers?

"This is a brilliant show of support, both for British manufacturing and the NHS. Our Cough Catcher is 100% British-made and it was developed in collaboration with a leading NHS surgeon.

"We're thrilled that news of our fantastic product appears to have spread all the way to the top of the Government."

We initially developed the Cough Catcher in partnership with a leading surgeon from Alder Hey Children's Hosiptal who wanted to distribute it to out-patients and parents visiting their sick youngsters.

It's a three-pleated face cover designed to easily provide the correct fit for anyone who wears it. With an aluminium nose-bridge, it can be moulded to the wearer's face and the elastic ear-loops allow it to be pulled snugly under the chin. 

Made from our premium high thread-count Supima cotton fabric, it effectively filters out particles, while being soft, comfortable and breathable.

Following the success of the project, we decided to make the Alder Hey Cough Catcher, plus two new designs - the Manchester Bee and the NHS Rainbow - available to our customers.

All of the profits from the Alder Hey version (available from our web-shop for £9.95) will go straight to the hospital's charity, which is battling to overcome the effects of lockdown and the subsequent cancellation of dozens of fundraising events.

And with every sale of our other face covers that cost £12.50 - including our Hero range - we will make a £2.50 donation to NHS Charities. 

The face covers are made from our the same fabric we use to make our luxury bed linens. Our superfine, Extra-Long-Staple cotton yarns are woven at Heathcoat Fabrics in Devon, where they are also treated with a certified anti-viral coating.

The fabric is then printed at Manchester-based Clothes2Order before being taken to our revamped Victorian cotton mill in Dukinfield where our small team of makers turn it into face covers.

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