Musselburgh man's firm to be UK's main supplier of face masks

Hass Peymani started up his firm after being dismayed by poor quality face masks during lockdown

A business started by a stay-at-home Musselburgh dad is set to establish itself as the UK's premier supplier of face masks - as well supporting NHS charities and the community through a unique giveback initiative.

In just three weeks, Screen & Shield has had more than 600 orders from individuals, businesses and community groups from around the UK and a new supply of 10,000 custom #sasMASKs is being produced to keep up with demand.

Ten weeks’ research

Hass Peymani set up Screen & Shield after becoming alarmed at the poor quality and unavailability of face masks for his family as he faced lockdown with a pregnant wife and his dad in a high-risk category.

The 40-year-old, who had previously set up a hugely successful global video business that saw him work with likes of football icon Neymar and pop superstar Katy Perry, spent ten weeks exhaustively researching the market before launching his #sasMASK brand from home.

Hass said: "It seemed to me that in a health crisis anyone who was selling masks should be giving back to the community, and especially to those hardest hit.

"I set up Screen & Shield so that ten per cent of all online sales go to NHS-related charities. But any participating community groups/ charities/influencers buying masks for their network also receive ten per cent of the sales value choose their own designs.

Hass had been looking after his four-year-old son Otto as a stay-at-home dad and living with his parents while his home was being renovated when lockdown kicked in.

‘Good-quality masks that didn’t compromise the medical PPE supply chain’

He added: "During week one of lockdown, we discussed as a family if we needed to wear face masks. With my dad in a high-risk category and my wife Louise pregnant, we decided we did. I started shopping for good-quality masks that didn't compromise the medical PPE supply chain. However, this turned out to be much trickier than I had expected.

"The face masks available at that time seemed to be distributed by untrustworthy-looking websites, looked to be of poor quality, took weeks - if not months - to arrive and were extortionately priced.

"I realised that I couldn't be the only person facing this problem, so I decided to stop moaning and take action - and from their #sasMASK was born."