A BUSINESS started by a stay-at-home dad from Musselburgh is hoping to establish itself as the UK’s premier supplier of face masks – as well as supporting NHS charities and the community through a give-back initiative.

In its first three weeks, Screen & Shield 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.

Hass Peymani, 40, of Albert Terrace, set up the enterprise after becoming alarmed at the poor quality and unavailability of face masks for his family, as he faced the Covid-19 lockdown with a pregnant wife and his dad in a high-risk category.

Hass, who had previously set up a global video business, Volcano City, that saw him work with likes of footballer Neymar and pop superstar Katie Perry, spent 10 weeks researching the market before launching his #sasMASK brand from home, in the midst of the national lockdown.

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

Their family business, making greetings cards and gifts, based in premises at Newhailes Industrial Estate in Musselburgh, was also closed due to the lockdown restrictions.

Hass, a member of Musselburgh Roads Cycling Club, said: “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.”

He claimed: “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 #sasMASK was born.”

He explained that the #sasMASK is manufactured in Europe and complies with the latest material and layering guidelines for non-medical-grade face coverings.

It has not only been designed to be washable, comfortable and affordable, but also comes in more than 30 designs, with this range due to double in size in the coming weeks, he added.

With the wearing of face masks now compulsory on public transport in Scotland, Screen & Shield is expecting orders to continue to surge as Hass, now back at his home in Musselburgh, fulfils hundreds of orders there until he can open a warehouse.

He said: “A fundamental aim of the #sasMASK brand was to create a business model that also benefited charities that support frontline workers and community groups.

“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 10 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 10 per cent of the sales value – as well as their members also receiving a 10 per cent discount.

“Along with local and national charities, we’ve had the likes of a cheerleading squad, a group of redundant BA staff, a nursery group and a community centre in Somerset all sign up to our community programme.

“They understand their community will likely buy face masks at some point, so by working with us they get excellent quality masks at a discounted price and can also generate funds to put back into their community.

“As we continue to grow the company, I want to generate lots of money for those affected by the pandemic as well as providing a comforting level of protection at the same time.”

Business customers can benefit from the ‘Team Vouchers’ system, which provides pre-paid voucher codes so staff can choose their own designs.

Screen & Shield is largely operating as an e-commerce business via screenandshield.co.uk and can also be found at facebook.com/screenandshield