High-end fashion retailers in the UK have stepped up to help meet the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), following reports of ongoing shortages.
Firms including Burberry, Barbour, Louis Vuitton and David Nieper have all repurposed factories to produce PPE items such as gowns and masks.
Burberry has retooled a trench coat factory in Yorkshire to begin PPE production.
READ MORE: Scottish bar and restaurant industry 'in distress' before Covid-19
The company said that it was using its global supply chain to fast-track more than 100,000 surgical masks to the UK NHS and was also funding research into a single dose vaccine.
Burberry chief executive Marco Gobbetti said: "In challenging times, we must pull together.
"The whole team at Burberry is very proud to be able to support those who are working tirelessly to combat Covid-19, whether by treating patients, working to find a vaccine solution or helping provide food supplies to those in need at this time.
"Covid-19 has fundamentally changed our everyday lives, but we hope that the support we provide will go some way towards saving more lives, bringing the virus under control and helping our world recover from this devastating pandemic."
Other firms have also reopened factories and re-enlisted staff who had been furloughed to help boost supplies.
The owner of Paddy Power and Betfair revealed it has been surprisingly resilient even as coronavirus took a major chunk out of turnover.
Flutter Entertainment said revenues jumped by 16% in the first three months of the year, despite a 46% hit to its sports segment since racing was suspended in the UK and Ireland.
READ MORE: Need for speed puts enterprise on frontline of Covid-19 response
However, things were expected to be worse, chief executive Peter Jackson said.
"Following the widespread cancellation of sporting events, group revenues have been more resilient than we initially expected, helped by the continuation of horse racing in Australia and the US gaming continues to perform well across the group," Mr Jackson said.
Up until March 15, revenue in the sports segment of the business grew by 30%, but that dropped to a 13% increase when including the final two weeks of the quarter.
Overall revenue grew by 16% to £547 million in the first quarter, after being on track to deliver a 29% increase until Covid-19 hit.
Mr Jackson said: "The group performed very well in the period prior to the disruption to sporting events in mid-March. We delivered strong customer growth across each of our brands and benefited from favourable sports results across our sports books."
Beer sales have slumped by 82% since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, research among small independent breweries suggests.
The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) warned that many businesses are struggling to survive.
A survey of almost 300 small breweries found that eight out of 10 do not believe the Government is doing enough to support them.
Just over half said they were unable to access any Government support, and almost a third were considering redundancies.
With pubs, bars and restaurants closed, the main route to market for independent breweries has been cut off, leading to two-thirds of them stopping production, said SIBA.
Chief executive James Calder said: "Unlike the global beer brands who can supply supermarkets in great volume, small independent breweries sell the majority of their beer through pubs, bars and restaurants, meaning the lockdown measures have hit them much harder.
"While many have launched local delivery services or online shops to try to stay afloat, the increase in online sales is a drop in the ocean compared to the overall decrease their beer sales have seen.
"Pubs, bars and restaurants have been receiving help from the Government, but none of the same schemes apply to our small breweries who saw their sales fall off a cliff almost overnight. They urgently need a package of measures to keep them going otherwise many won't be able to reopen."
The trade association is working with the Campaign for Real Ale on the Pulling Together initiative, which links independent breweries and pubs offering beer delivery and takeaway services with beer lovers across the UK.
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