A clean act
Immaculate table linen and pristine bed covers are taken for granted by guests in top-class hotels, but who is the best person to trust with the job? Amanda Marcus finds out.
Laundry may not be the most glamorous aspect of hotel management, but it's vital. For any establishment with an image to maintain, ensuring a consistent standard of quality and finish from tableware to bed linen is essential, and the cost of getting it wrong can be huge. Yet most hotels in the UK trust someone else to do the job rather than doing it themselves.
Space is the main reason to contract out laundry services, particularly in more expensive cities such as London, followed by the initial cost of investing in on-premise laundry equipment. Then there are issues of staffing costs and workload.
Cleo McNally is chairman of the Housekeepers' Association for London and the South-east and executive housekeeper at the 1,100-bedroom Hilton London Metropole. She explains that the hotel did once do its own laundry, but the site has now been converted into a rooftop restaurant and all laundry is shipped out to contractors. The Metropole's position is quite typical: if an area of the hotel can be used more lucratively - to add another guest facility or more bedrooms - most managers will opt to give the laundry facility a lower priority.
McNally says keeping the business on the premises was simply not an issue, because space is such a premium asset. The laundry was also run-down and it would have cost a lot to replace the equipment, so the company moved it out. The choice of contractor in the Hilton's case was not in McNally's hands but was negotiated by head office.
"I know the managing director of our laundry company very well and we are a huge contract to them," McNally says, "so it runs smoothly. But we do need to be very tight with our paperwork and counting our inventory, otherwise losses can build up."
Mix and match
The choice doesn't have to be all or nothing, however. A common scenario is to retain a value-added service, such as a guest laundry, on the premises and contract out the rest. Eiri Pryce is executive housekeeper at the Dorchester. The hotel has an in-house facility for guest laundry and dry-cleaning, as well as staff uniforms, but everything else is handled by Royal Jersey. Having worked in the business overseas and seen on-premise laundry facilities at work, Pryce has first-hand experience of the benefits of on-premise operations. "You control your inventory better, because nothing leaves the premises, and you can prioritise it. For example, if you need more bed sheets rather than table linen, you just do them first."
But she agrees with McNally that for most hotels bringing the entire operation in-house is not an option, because the space is just too valuable. At the Dorchester, that same lack of space can be a problem for the contractor, too, Pryce says, because the hotel has a small loading bay, which can become congested when a contractor's large lorry is loading and unloading every few days. In a busy week, the Dorchester ships out 47,150 items of house linen (sheets, towels, etc) and 17,325 items of table linen. Royal Jersey has a contract with the hotel for two years and Pryce says she's very happy. "The service manager visits us every week to sort out any problems with the head linen keeper," she says.
What the suppliers say
Brian Ditcham is area sales manager for the South-west of England and South Wales with Anglowest. The company makes commercial laundry equipment for those who opt for an on-premise laundry, so Ditcham is naturally keen to point out their advantages.
The main plus point is cost. An on-premise laundry can save up to 50% on costs in the long run, but the initial investment puts a lot of people off. "It's usually the linen rather than the equipment which is the biggest investment," says Ditcham. "I once visited a three-star hotel with around 30 rooms and gave them a quote for £10,000 to install a laundry, but the cost of buying the linen was going to be £30,000."
Planning when to bring laundry back in-house can be important, he says. "A good time could be when a contract with a laundry services provider is drawing to a close and the company is willing to sell your personalised linen to you at a reduced price."
The savings can be substantial on a straight cost-comparison basis. As an example, Ditcham quotes a restaurant which was sending 1,500 napkins per week to a contractor for an annual fee of £24,000. When the business was brought in-house and a vegetable storeroom converted for the job, the cost dropped to £6,000 per year (excluding initial investment in laundry equipment). Among other things, the contractor has to add on a charge for transporting the linen to and from its customer. In a large establishment, which needs deliveries two or three times per week, this can add up to an additional 35%.
Still, Ditcham says, there's generally more resistance in the UK to on-premise laundry facilities than elsewhere in Europe. As well as space, management is another obstacle. "The hotel manager often has enough staffing problems and doesn't want to add to them when they can contract the work out. The owner may be in favour, but it's the manager who has to be prepared to take on the responsibility - and the extra work."
For those wishing to look at the option, Anglowest, and companies like it, will work out a package for customers, calculating the cost of gas, electricity and water consumption, effluent and detergent costs and the cost per hour of staffing a laundry.
If an establishment is keen to bring laundry in-house but would rather not have the initial investment in equipment and the hassle of maintaining it, a compromise is to lease the equipment. Leasing contracts usually include site assessment, installation and all maintenance of the machines. Equipment can also be leased on shorter contracts with extended service warranty. "Buying your equipment may work out cheaper in the long run," says Ditcham, "but some customers like the leasing option because their costs are then fixed, which is good for budgeting. A small washer and dryer system can be leased from around £10 per week."
Some hotels may combine the two, using a small space to install just one or two machines to absorb extra demand during busy periods and avoid additional costs with their contractor. This can be a good option for guest laundry, for example, where the cost of the equipment is easily balanced by offering guests a value-added service.
Complete package
Until now, most hotels have been restricted to the choice of hiring linen for a contracted job - with all the problems of stock and quality control that that often entails - or buying their own for an on-premise laundry. Since linen is usually the largest cost factor in setting up an on-premise laundry, equipment supplier Warner Howard has come up with another option.
In June it launched a package called 100% Service, which offers customers the chance to include linen and towels in the set-up package. As well as installing the laundry equipment, the company will lease customers their own linen, replacing the stock every two years. The package is at an all-inclusive price based on a six-year agreement. Sales director Paul Wilkes says the average cost of linen hire for a 20-bedroom hotel is £400-£500 per month. "For £275, customers could do the whole job themselves, with their own linen, maintained machines, and none of the problems associated with traditional linen hire. We're offering a new option: you hire the linen but wash it yourself."
Turning tumble-dryers into money-spinners
While most large hotels contract out their laundry services, Corille Turner, executive housekeeper at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, has turned it into a profitable business in its own right. She inherited an on-premise laundry at the 800-bedroom hotel when she took on the job, and realised it wasn't being used to full capacity. So she doubled the shifts and the length of the laundry's opening hours and Birmingham's facility now does the laundry for four other Hilton Metropole hotels as well as its own.
The business is run as a profit centre in its own right and clearly pays back more than the cost of Birmingham's own laundry. "We charge internally within the group, but we run it like a business, offering a service to the other hotels," Turner explains.
The whole operation is run by one laundry manager, four supervisors and eight operatives on each shift, with shifts running from 6am-2pm and 2-10pm. There are also a driver and a driver's mate to pick up and deliver laundry to the other hotels.
"Staffing can be a reason why other hotels don't take on laundry in-house, especially in London," says Turner. "Many of them have to use agencies, because they can't get the people, but we don't have that problem here. As well as the ability to respond quickly to emergencies, the on-premise laundry has the added advantage that we can do everything, not just flat work. We launder our own sheer nets, mattress covers, bedspreads, the lot."
There are disadvantages, however. "The biggest problem arises if the equipment breaks down," says Turner. "That can be very serious. We have a good maintenance contract, and we have only ever had to send laundry out once, but it's still a risk."
Replacing equipment can also be a costly business and Turner makes sure the hotel's laundry room is regularly maintained and serviced. "Some of our equipment is over 20 years old, but we can still get the parts, so we rebuild rather than replace if they're still good. These machines were built to last."
The hotel owns its own linen and has an annual budget of about £90,000 for working replacements.
Turner's situation is still rare, but another large hotel chain is rumoured to be following her example: Warner Howard reports that it is currently in discussion with an unnamed group looking to build its own laundry on an industrial site to service three of its hotels.
Help is on its way
The Housekeepers' Association (020 7723 6668) is a voluntary organisation set up by housekeepers in the UK. It is working on an information pack, which will offer advice to members on laundry options and choosing a contractor. The pack should be available in a few months' time.
Equipment suppliers
Anglowest Distributors 0800 243434
Ardee Automatics 01236 7344441
Armstrong Commercial Laundry Systems 01635 33881
Cherry Tree Machines 01254 671155
Electrolux Laundry Systems 01582 661059
ICS 01432 275712
JLA Total Care 0800 591903
Miele 01235 554455
Orchard Commercial Laundry Systems 01638 581000
Sapphire Laundry Equipment 01422 379922
Warner Howard 020 8206 2900
Please note: this list is not comprehensive and is restricted to laundry equipment providers.
