A SPECIALIST company which cleaned up at a York hotel after the UK’s first confirmed case of coronavirus has been in demand ever since.

York-based Bio Decon has expanded its team to work with wide-ranging clients, including 111 call centres, military bases, research laboratories and nurseries looking after key worker children.

In recent weeks, Bio Decon has been busy helping businesses in York and further afield prepare for reopening, including The Principal Hotel and a hair salon.

In February, Bio Decon was called in to decontaminate part of StayCity hotel, next to York Barbican, where two confirmed coronavirus patients had been staying.

Managing director Andy McMillan said they had been busy ever since.

BioDecon offers specialist decontamination services, using hydrogen peroxide as a cleaner and a scientifically-developed combination of vapour and gas.

Its clean-up process creates a Six Log decontamination level, meaning the environment is free from biological life.

The team can test the environment within minutes for the presence of microbial life using enzyme indicators, enabling the setting to be used again soon.

BioDecon which started in January 2019 has grown to a team of 12, with 10 people trained to use the equipment. They offer a regular contract service, or rapid decontamination response.

“We haven’t stopped,” said Andy, adding that they were operating across England, and had received enquiries from Wales and Scotland. “We have gone into key worker nurseries, research labs, call centres, military bases that can’t afford to shut down.We have contracts in London with research companies that can’t afford to have staff off ill.”

He said 99 per cent of their work had been reacting to cases in workplaces where someone had had coronavirus symptoms or been a confirmed case.

“We have done some car showrooms a couple of times where staff came in and one tested positive. That was an emergency response. We went back to the same place because another staff member had symptoms. It is about giving people the confidence that they can go back in to their working environment.”

He added: “We have vehicles and staff ready to go. When it is an emergency call-out we have contracts and retainers with businesses when we say we will be there within 12 or 24 hours of a call. The team are incredibly hard working and want to help the community. It is nice that we are keeping our staff working."