Recruitment drive initiative is
back after 2024 pilot success
How to encourage
recruitment for the commercial laundry sector in the face of national staff
shortages? After a successful pilot in
2024, the TSA (Textile Services Association) has announced the dates for next
year’s Laundry Open Week, which will run from 24th to 28th
March 2025.
“Getting in
front of potential recruits is made harder by the fact that every other
industry is trying to do the same,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “It’s a busy, noisy, crowded space. But we have so much to offer: a great career
path, decent wages, an ethos of support and diversity, a growing sector, the
use of the latest technology.... Laundry Open Week is the chance to get the
message across.”
The TSA has
worked closely with ETSA, the European Textile Services Association, to develop
the Laundry Open Week initiative. During
the week commercial laundries across the UK and Europe will open their doors to
allow visitors to see and discuss the range of careers available. Part of the
message is the diversity of careers on offer: of the UK’s commercial laundry workforce
of 24,000 or so, only about a third handle the laundry. The Week will underline all the other
opportunities, such as engineers, customer service reps, HR, drivers, sales and
finance teams.
It’s not
just about career opportunities: the Week is also an opportunity to underline
some of the industry’s forward-thinking initiatives, around areas like
sustainability, inclusivity and mental health, since these also prove
attractive to potential staff.
One of the
companies who took part in 2024 was Micronclean. “We found it very positive,” says Nyle Chapman, the company’s learning and
development officer. “The people who attended came
with limited knowledge of the industry and of us as a company – and they left
knowing a lot more! Subsequently several
of them applied for positions with the company.
Seeing what we do at first hand definitely changed their perceptions of
our industry and of the careers it offers.
We look forward to being involved in the 2025 Open Laundry Week.”
“Our
industry is a real hidden gem, and it can be a great career for many people,”
says Stevens. “We are keen to showcase
to the general public what we can offer.
The UK’s first Laundry Open Week was very much a pilot, and I’d like to
thank all of our members who took part.
We are looking forward to see how we can build on this event in
2025. There were some good lessons learned and it will be great to have
more laundries taking part.”
The TSA is
putting together resources for any laundries who want to participate in Laundry
Open Week 2025. For more information
contact the TSA.
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; teaboy@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
Get
the latest news on the TSA from tsa-uk.org or from the TSA press office at
publicityworks.biz