David Winter takes over from Ian Stubbs as General Manager JENSEN UK

26 May 2021

Ian Stubbs has been very successfully managing JENSEN UK for the past 15 years. He has now been promoted to Head of Large Projects for the JENSEN-GROUP, as of June 1. His position as General Manager JENSEN UK will be taken over by David Winter, also as of June 1.

David will soon move with his family to Oxfordshire that he left in 2006 when he accepted a position with JENSEN USA. He has been the General Manager of JENSEN Middle East since 2015, overseeing all sales and service activities in the area.

“I am thrilled to be heading JENSEN UK and to work with my new team to support all our customers in the UK and Ireland, I look forward to being back home” confirms David Winter.

For further information visit:

www.jensen-group.com

Mental Health – Resources Available

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Hygienically Clean: TSA and UKHospitality Campaign to Help Hospitality Re-Open Safely

Research shows laundering kills Covid-19 – but effective soiled/clean segregation is essential

As the hospitality industry comes to terms with the latest advice on hygiene and Covid-19, the TSA (Textile Service Association) has updated its Hygienically Clean Linen campaign.  The TSA represents commercial laundries serving hospitality and the campaign is being run in association with UKHospitality.  The two associations have established joint guidelines designed to help hotels, restaurants and other sites that use a laundry service, or have an onsite laundry, to understand the latest advice and regulations.

The campaign also includes marketing materials that will help operators allay any concerns that their guests and customers may have concerning the hygiene of textiles such as bed linen and towels.

A key addition to the campaign resources is related to research undertaken by De Montfort University (DMU), and supported by TSA, which looked into Covid-19’s survival rates on textiles and how the laundry process affected them.  It found that Covid-19 can survive on cotton for up to 12 hours and on polyester for up to 72 hours.  The good news is that Covid-19 is killed in all washing processes above 40°C with agitation and detergent.  However, a key consideration has to be cross contamination – it’s essential that dirty and clean linens are segregated effectively, to avoid any possible infection transfer.

“TSA safety guidelines manage cross-contamination, and all commercial laundries will segregate soiled and clean linen,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA.  “If you are operating an onsite laundry it is essential to set up segregation and cross-contamination procedures.

“Soiled to clean contamination is the highest risk area – it’s where critical control points are vital.”

Key to the successful reopening of the hospitality sector is making customers feel safe and secure.  That’s why the Hygienically Clean campaign includes the Rest Assured Scheme, which includes marketing material that TSA laundries can give to hospitality operators to display, verifying that their linens and towels have been hygienically processed..  There are different versions of the literature for different sectors, such as hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities.

“We want to help the hospitality industry re-open and understand some guests may have been worried about the hygiene of the bedroom linens and towelling,” says Stevens.  “The Hygienically Clean campaign underlines and explains the research and the procedures we have implemented.  In simple terms, the key message to consumers is, “It’s safe to go and enjoy the hospitality services we have all missed for so long.  You can sleep well!”

The Hygienically Clean guidance and documents are available to download from the Covid Resources section.  For marketing materials, hospitality operators should talk to their laundry service supplier. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

T +44 (0) 20 3151 5600

Women in the Industry – Launch New Initiative

Success Stories

 

Our working group Women in the Industry is leading the way for our Diversity and Inclusion topic, we had a brilliant working group meeting at the end of April where we discussed how the TSA can improve to ensure we are more inclusive and also how we can help increase female attendance at our events and training courses. It was brilliant to receive constructive feedback and great to see the passion for change. 

One of TSA’s first action points and as part of Women in the Industry’s initiative we would like to share and highlight success stories of our laundry employees. The working group has been brilliant and have already shared some entries with us. Therefore, please see our first two fantastic entries below:

Stella Yates
Group Product Manager, Cleanroom Textiles
Micronclean Ltd

Stella joined the business in 2013 as a Support Business Development Manager, being new to field sales following a career in the travel industry. She was part of a newly formed Cleanroom Solutions Team in January 2014, where following on from the purchase of Guardline, Micronclean segregated the sales team into two categories; Cleanroom and Technical. She soon became one of the top Sales BDM’s in the business and was promoted to UK Cleanroom Sales Manager after a secondment period in January 2018. Stella managed the team through a high period of growth in the textile and consumable sales of the UK and was then appointed her new role in January 2021. This exciting new role to the business will see Stella in a more strategic role, using her knowledge of the cleanroom textile industry to promote new products and help deliver the company’s strategy. This is a tremendous acceleration of a career from entry level field sales to senior management in less than eight years. Micronclean have also sponsored Stella to complete her MBA with Lincoln University which she will do in 2023.

Stella

Mandy Smith
Contract Manager/Project Manager
SynergyLMS

Mandy joined the business in 1987 working in the laundry in the calendar section – from there she volunteered to cover part time in the office as holiday cover to gain experience so that when the opportunity arose for a full time position, she would have the skills for the job. Her commitment and desire to learn impressed laundry management and Mandy soon was given the opportunity for a full-time role as Office Admin. Mandy’s desire to learn and move upward in the organisation was apparent to many.  Mandy was promoted into a Senior Contract Manager looking after all aspects of operation and customer service for a number of large accounts. Mandy was the first female Contract Manager for Synergy. Mandy continues to learn and develop her skills even after 30 years in the company – Mandy although a skilled Project Manager in her own right is now formalizing this by completing a Prince2 Project Management Course, sponsored by the company. Please note Mandy had 3 children, husband and home to run as well during the 30 years working at Synergy. Mandy is both respected by her customers and her colleagues – a professional lady that has a passion to succeed.

Mandy

How to send your entries

With help of the group we have created a template in order for you all to send us your entries. It may be recognising a ‘Rising Star’, a long service award, a significant retirement or a member of the team who has contributed outside work with a local charity, whatever the story we want to hear from you and tell the industry about some of the amazing people we have in it. 

Please note all genders can of course be entered but as this is part of the Women in the Industry initiative we do encourage you to enter your successful female colleagues in particular. 

TSA_Spotlight_Template
SPOTLIGHT ENTRY TEMPLATE

If you have any queries or would like any further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

T: +44 (0)20 3151 5600
E: tsa@tsa-uk.org

Update from the TSA

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Government hangs hospitality laundries out to dry. Again.

“Everyone agrees that we should get support, but we still get nothing,” pleads TSA

The restart grants are great news for hospitality and other businesses – but not for commercial laundries.  Yet again the laundries that hospitality relies on have been ignored by government.  Now the TSA (Textile Services Association), which represents commercial laundries in the UK, has written to BEIS (the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) to demand an explanation.

“We didn’t get lockdown grants, we didn’t get business rates relief, we didn’t get the VAT reduction,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA.  “Now we’re not getting the restart grants, either.  It’s like Groundhog Day, only much worse.

“We’re suffering, we need support, and we’re not getting it, while other business are.  It’s so unfair.”

Stevens points out that the commercial laundries that supply the hospitality industry have seen their business drop by 90% or more.  “We just need to know why we’re being ignored,” he says.

Here is the text of the TSA’s letter to Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

Dear Mr Kwarteng,

I draw your attention to a statement that our members are receiving every time they apply to their Council for any form of rate relief or grant support.

“I understand your position and frustration. However, in the guidance that was issued by the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, your business does not fall into a qualifying category”

This time it’s the re-start grants.  Before that it was the lockdown grants.  And the VAT reduction.  And the business rates relief.  Every time, we get ignored, and we get nothing.

All the Councils agree hospitality laundries have been forced to close.  They all agree we should get the grant.  They all agree it’s unfair that we don’t get any support.  But then they’ve agreed we should have been included in every piece of financial support that other businesses have been offered.  But sympathy is all we get. There has been no money forthcoming, the hospitality laundries are always left out.

Until someone in BEIS is brave enough to accept they have got it wrong, the commercial laundry industry will not get the support it deserves and so desperately needs.

We’ve been turned down time and time again.  We’ve been hung out to dry.

So, now we need an audience with a decision maker in BEIS so that, at the very least, they can explain why we’ve been singled out for no help from government.  Then I can inform the industry as to why we have been excluded.

Without the hundreds of commercial laundries serving hospitality, and the 24,000 laundry operatives they employ, UK hospitality will not be able to operate on 17th May.  Hotels, restaurants, sports facilities and many other businesses rely on commercial laundries.

How can you expect laundries to survive without any support when other sectors have received £billions in grants, VAT reductions and rate relief.

Give us support.  Please.  If not, then at least give us an explanation.

The letter is signed by David Stevens.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us either via email or phone: 

E tsa@tsa-uk.org

T +44 (0) 20 3151 5600