The second Hatch report commissioned by the TSA highlights the
economic growth and importance of the UK’s commercial laundry sector
The Textile Service Association (TSA) recently commissioned its second value report on the textile services sector in relation to the UK’s economy. Known as the Hatch report, it was presented by lead consultant Tim Fanning, at the TSA’s National Congress on the 5th February 2025 at the Harbour Hotel in Southampton. It builds on the first report, published in 2020, and highlights changes in the sector. By drawing on three key markets, hospitality, healthcare and manufacturing, the Hatch report demonstrates how they depend on the textile services industry. The aim in doing this is to protect the long-term sustainability of the laundry industry as well as raise awareness of its importance, which Hatch calls a “hidden sector”.
What differentiates the new report from its predecessor is its ability to draw comparisons with two sets of data. This highlights the changes the industry has been through over the course of the past five years. Turnover is perhaps most striking, rising from £1.2 to £1.6 billion. In the same time the number of people employed by the industry has fallen from 23,000 to 22,000. These changes demonstrate how the industry has driven productivity. The report also captured for the first time peak processed volumes which reported at over 75 million pieces per week.
Gross Value Added (GVA) figures have also risen across the key focus sectors of the report which directly correlates to the increase in demand of commercial laundries, but employment levels in these areas varies. Manufacturing, for example, has risen from GVA £189.3 billion to GVA £210.4 billion per annum, while job numbers have dropped, from 2.7 million to 2.6 million. That said, in hospitality, education, health, social work and public services, both GVA and employment have risen. In the public service sector these numbers are particularly significant, with GVA per annum rising from £346.7 billion to £426.1 billion.
“While raising awareness of the commercial laundry sector continues to be a challenge, the data is encouraging,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “The value of textile services is rising and productivity is increasing.
“The more we focus on the data and getting that message out there, the harder it will be to ignore us. “The second report from Hatch has proven particularly insightful into how our industry is becoming even more valuable to the economy at large.”
According to the 2025 report, key areas of concern within the sector remain as they were half a decade ago: downward pressure on prices, rising costs of production and significantly increased energy costs. While these are universal problems in many businesses across different sectors, raising awareness of the textile services industry, particularly to the UK government, remains a high motivator behind the work the TSA is hoping to continue for both its members and industry at large.
“We will be using the Hatch Report as a key lobbying tool to highlight what our industry does and how it supports the UK economy,” says Emma Andersson, Director for the TSA. “Meanwhile, informing our members about how they can use the report was an important talking point at the 2025 National Congress.”
This was directly addressed during Congress in a panel named “What should we do with the Hatch report?”. Joining Tim Fanning for this were Lucy Renaut (director, Fishers), Mark Franklin (CEO, Elis UK) and Kevin Godley (CEO, CLEAN). During their discussion Fanning encouraged the audience to use the report to reinforce to both their employee and customer bases how important the textile services industry is to the UK’s national economy.
“There may be larger sectors with greater economic
footprints, but few have the sheer connectivity of ours and they in turn would
grind to a halt without our services,” says Emma.
The TSA will continue to commission Hatch reports every three years moving
forward.
The Hatch research, ‘The Economic Value of the Textile Services Sector to the UK Economy,’ 2025 edition, is available to download at tsa-uk.org, from the TSA publications section in the documents library.
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