21-05-2025
Russian attacks in Ukraine boost demand for Avon's gas masks
Russian chemical attacks in Ukraine have boosted demand for gas masks produced by one of Britain's leading defence companies.
Avon Technologies is the Wiltshire-based specialist producer of gas masks and, in the US, helmets for the American military and emergency services.
Nato countries have been buying up Avon's anti-chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear respirators to give to Ukraine as evidence amasses of war crimes on the front line by Russian poison gas attacks.
Jos Sclater, a former GKN and Ultra Electronics finance director who has been Avon's chief executive since early 2023, said: 'Ukraine is changing everything. The zeitgeist had previously been: who was going to use chemical warfare? Now we know chemical attacks are a real threat again.'
The demand for protective equipment,
