The
situation is getting better; meanwhile Association works with CBI to lobby
government
The Textile Services
Association (TSA) has wholeheartedly celebrated the bounce back of the hospitality
industry, saying that commercial laundries have seen a dramatic increase in
demand. However, it has warned that
while the recovery is welcomed, it is bringing supply issues. Consequently it has partnered with UKHospitality
to issue advice for hospitality operators covering some temporary actions they
can consider to alleviate the pressure on their laundry provider.
“The problem is that we’ve been
asked to jump from dead slow to full speed overnight,” says David Stevens, CEO
of the TSA. “To be fair, we’ve been
warning that there could be issues for several months. The total lack of government support for the
laundry industry means some of our members are really struggling with staffing,
the shortage of drivers, supply chain issues, capacity issues due to operating
covid-secure factories, and so on.”
Here is the TSA’s advice on
temporary actions hospitality operators can take to support their laundry
providers:
·
Talk to your laundry provider to consider how
to manage the situation and temporarily reduce your linen requirements. For
example:
Encourage
multi-night stays
Review bed change policy
Reduce linen required for room make up
·
Sell up to the occupancy levels your laundry
supplier can deliver linen at
·
Send back any unused stock
·
Keep the laundry informed of upstream occupancy
levels
·
Give plenty of notice for events and F&B
requirements, such as weddings
·
Understand some laundries may have cash flow
issues; prompt payment may really help
·
If possible, give the laundry time to adapt to
the increase in demand
The TSA says that the laundry
supply issues are not being felt throughout the UK – some regions have been
able to get up to speed more quickly than others.
“Where supply issues do exist,
we expect the situation to improve rapidly over the coming weeks,” says
Stevens. “With good communication and
cooperation, we expect laundries to recover quickly. We are incredibly grateful for the
hospitality industry’s understanding during this difficult time.”
In common with many other
sectors, especially the hospitality industry, laundries are struggling with
staffing issues – a combination of problems created by both the pandemic and
Brexit. The TSA is working with the CBI
to lobby government to get laundry operatives to be added to the Shortage
Occupations List.
The TSA is the trade association for the textile care
services industry. The TSA represents commercial laundry and textile
rental businesses. Membership ranges from family-run operations through to
large, multi-national companies. Visit www.tsa-uk.org
for more information.
Press Enquiries:
The
Publicity Works: 01263 761000; tim@publicityworks.biz
David Stevens, CEO, Textile Services Association,
T: +44 (0)20 3151 5600 M:
+44 (0)7966 531954 E: david.stevens@tsa-uk.org