Staff chipped in to spend around £1,000 on winter essentials during the bitterly cold weather, following an urgent outreach request from local charity Sunday Supper.

With shopping list in hand IIJ managing director John Corrall headed a team expedition to a nearby supermarket and stocked up three large trolleys.

Marketing and communications specialist Sarah Collard said the team spent about £700 in the supermarket and bought two tents and several sleeping bags online.

“We went along the supermarket aisles sweeping goods off shelves into trolleys,” she said. “When the request came in John didn't hesitate, and a good job too.

“We shopped on Thursday and on Friday there was a massive snowfall. We are lucky to be in a position to make a difference, and I'm sure on this occasion we did just that.”

IIJ quality systems project manager Sarah Stokes volunteers for the charity and raised the alert two weeks ago as the the 'beast from the east' and Storm Emma plunged Britain into biting cold chaos.

Sunday Suppers is a community-founded group in Mildenhall, Suffolk, that helps people who are homeless in nearby Bury St Edmunds and surrounding areas.

As well as clothing and other items, the charity offers hot meals on a Sunday and are out and about on a Monday and Thursday evenings helping people who sleep rough.

Corrall said: “Social responsibility is important to IIJ and we are very proud to support to a local charity that delivers an incredible service to those in need.”

IIJ - Industrial Inkjet – based in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, supplies inkjet technology and is the official sales and technical support centre for Konica Minolta industrial inkjet outside of Asia.