An East Yorkshire emergency vehicle manufacturer is producing military grade ambulances for imminent deployment in Ukraine.
Former British Army vehicles are being overhauled by Goole specialist O&H to support medics working on the front line.
It has been made possible after a wealthy British businessman born in the Russian-invaded country pulled donors together, working with town MP Andrew Percy.
Read more: Charity run by bet365 tycoon Denise Coates donates £1 million to Ukraine appeal
He put chief executive Oliver North in touch with the Ukrainian Embassy in London last week, with work beginning soon after.
A total of 120,000 sq ft of workshop space across the Goole site and a second facility in Brighouse has now been commandeered for the effort - funded by donors.
The highly skilled team is working 24/7 to speed up production time, aware that every hour is vital.
“When we got the call, we jumped into action immediately,” Mr North said.
“As the UK’s oldest and largest ambulance builder, we truly feel that it is our duty to deliver on this project, with as much passion, precision, and speed as we possibly can.
“Andrew Percy has been an integral part of the project, and wholeheartedly shares our sense of obligation to drive the project for the inspirational people of Ukraine. Our team has been relentless and tireless in their efforts, knowing that each vehicle completion will play a part in saving lives. And as many of us are former military personnel, we feel like we’re operating in a very familiar arena.
“Although many of us are subsequently spending little or no time at home at the moment, we’re well aware that our sacrifices don’t even come close to those made by the Ukrainian people, so we’re genuinely humbled to be able to play our part.”
An undisclosed number of vehicles are now being comprehensively stripped, overhauled, modernised and converted into ambulances.
The team, part of Venari Group, understands Ukraine is currently losing ambulances at an increasingly rapid rate, with 10 per day the latest figure to emerge from the ongoing Russian invasion.
With all-terrain capability, they will allow increased manoeuvrability for both paramedics and patients and allow medical teams to treat people who they may not otherwise be able to reach. The armoured variants will provide ballistic protection from small arms fire to allow safer extractions.
Mr North said his engineering and production team sprung into immediate action, to ensure that every inch of the vehicles are designed with the sole intention of saving as many lives as possible, while the site was assessed.
Mr Percy was contacted by the wealthy Ukrainian-born British businessman who has also secured support from blue chip companies, He said: “As soon as Alexander reached out to me about three weeks ago to ask for help in securing ambulances for Ukraine, I set to work connecting all of the parties. Oliver and the team at O&H responded in an amazing way and have gone far and above what I thought was possible.
“My role has been to connect all the parties and work to secure the funding for this project and that work continues as we want to send as many ambulances to Ukraine as possible. I am also so proud that Goole workers and our manufacturing base are once again helping to protect freedom and democracy just as we did in World War Two when we helped construct the Mulberry Harbours for the liberation of Europe.
“I cannot praise Oliver and the workers at O&H enough for their incredible efforts, working through the night to get this project up and running. Their efforts have been amazing and they should all be very proud of what they are doing to keep medical professionals and patients in Ukraine safe. It is not even three weeks since I was asked to help put this project together and we already have these ambulances in production. Once again, Goole has proven itself!
“We have also been working with the UK Government to support this project and we all stand ready to do whatever else more we can.”
Formerly Oughtred & Harrison Facilities, one of several legacy firms of the Hull shipping and freight forward agent that went on to embrace insurance broking and IT, the 33-year-old busines now trades as O&H Vehicle Technology and has been bought out twice, latterly through a management buy-out led by Mr North from equity house Endless LLP. The £11.7 million turnover operation returned to profit for the first time in four years in 2021.
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