Category: News

“We are hugely grateful to Derek for his help and for being such a strong advocate for our industry,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. Derek had previously visited Mounts Bay Laundry and so had a good understanding of the scale of the industry and its challenges. The Westminster meeting covered a lot of ground, including energy support, labour shortages and, more generally, what the industry can do to ensure that it is visible to the Government going forward. Also, demonstrating the industry’s role it plays in supporting the UK economy and how it can help the Government achieve its sustainability targets.

Stevens emphasises the work of the TSA’s members and the new Lobbying Steering Group in helping raise the industry’s profile. “The work has resulted in many MPs visiting laundries and recognising the importance of our industry.”

The TSA recently sent a team over to America to the TRSA’s head office in Alexandria, Virginia. While there they met with Joe Ricci, the president and CEO of the TRSA, and other members of the association’s leadership. A key element of the trip was the opportunity for the TSA’s team to examine the certification system and methodology the TRSA has developed. TRSA quantifies the industry’s commitment to cleanliness and sustainability through its Clean Green and Hygienically Clean Certification programs. as well as professional qualification  Certified Professional Laundry Manager (CPLM) designation. ‘You can only be impressed with what they have built’, says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA.

Alongside this, the TSA’s director of finance and membership was able to sit in on a meeting of the TRSA’s diversity and inclusion committee, discussing approaches and sharing ideas on this vital topic.

Presentations will cover topics as diverse as the environment, including a keynote address from award-winning environmentalist and author Natalie Fee, laundry fire safety, the energy market, and wellbeing. The ‘people matter’ section includes a talk by Matt Bowes of Vision Linens, who shares his story of leaving prison and being given a second chance, and a discussion on menopause awareness, its effect on the workforce and how best to approach it.

Christoph Geppert of Grain Sustainability is joined by Carmen Cardenal Pac of Ecolab to look at where we are as an industry on the TSA’s Sustainability Roadmap as well as, more specifically, the issues around microplastics and PFASs. 

In the arresting titled ‘1+1=3’ presentation, Joe Ricci, president and CEO of the TRSA, will join conference to show how the UK and USA textile associations are working together and what they are achieving and hope to build in the future.

The roundtable, which took place at the Crown Plaza NEC in Birmingham on 31^st January 2023, included representatives from some of the UK’s largest laundry companies and hotel groups, as well as the TSA and UKHospitality (UKH). They discussed the importance of reducing the reliance on single use plastics as part of UKH’s push towards removing it completely by 2030, and how each sector needs to work with the other in order to achieve this.

The discussion resulted in the hospitality industry agreeing to support the laundry industry’s work to remove single use plastic from the processing of bed linen.

This will require investment from laundries to bring in appropriate cages and washable cage liners that will replace the single-use plastic wrapping, in order to maintain the high standards of hygiene demanded. This process will undoubtedly take time to complete, which is why it is important that this initiative is driven by both industries as a whole.

As well as filling a gap in the provision offered by the project, it helps to reduce the amount of textile waste generated by hotels by giving them a second life.

During his address to congress, Gordon Brown was extremely enthusiastic about the potential not just to help those in need but also help to tackle pollution by reducing waste as well as boosting the economy, and thanked the laundries that have become involved with the project. Nearly 50,000 families have been helped since the project launched, with over 320,000 items distributed. Mr Brown will be helping the project as it expands to other areas of Scotland and across the UK.

Pauline Buchan, Strategic Director for the Cottage Family Centre and CEO of the National Family Centre Bank, told congress more about the work and gave details on how businesses can get involved.