Profit, motivation, training

Motivation, profitability, and the need for training were among the themes at this year’s TSA conference, which sought both to inform and entertain its audience.

Motivation has always been a strong theme. Polar explorer Pen Haddow described the challenges faced on his solo expedition. The biggest concern is that if something goes wrong there is no-one to rescue you. He was not, he stressed, an extraordinary person but he had the right mindset – and brought the positives of fresh thinking and the ability to go into micro detail to the challenge. The North Pole is a highly unpredictable environment. You know the generality but not the detail. Global warming is reducing the amount of ice, making the journey more difficult. Others had taken a long route to stay on the ice, but instead he invented equipment that allowed him to be amphibious and take the most direct route.

The effect of the cold on the brain, is a big problem. It’s similar to that of alcohol – in effect, you are semi-sloshed for 60 odd days and you still have to concentrate to achieve the goal. Polar bears are one of the biggest dangers. They are the largest carnivores. Your scent trail will be the only one for miles and they will follow assuming you are a seal (food). Your only defence is to make yourself look as large as possible and make a noise. Nevertheless, he said that the absence of these creatures would be a bad sign for the environment – but the population was stable.

Pursuing profit

The textile rental sector’s need to be more profitable was pursued in its presentations. CEO Murray Simpson told the audience that the laundry cost index is being relaunched in a slightly different format. Costs are being tracked over 3years using government statistics on energy and labour and inflation to map other costs.

TSA continues to lobby government. It recently scored a success in persuading the UK to vote against a proposed EU soil contamination directive that would have forced businesses using perc drycleaning equipment, to investigate whether their sites had been contaminated. The disruption and costs of digging the sites and any clean-up were disproportionate to the environmental risk involved, said Murray Simpson.

He thanked both Martin Gregson and Mike Palin for their efforts in getting this proposal dropped for the time being, but, on a cautionary note, reminded the audience that the threat had not necessarily disappeared for good.

Lobbying to get the industry admitted to the Climate Change Levy discount process continues. “TSA has identified a way forward, using confidential information from the industry,” said Simpson.

David Stevens, conference chairman, pursued the profit theme. “We have to change the profitability of our industry” he stressed. Better awareness of the true costs of the rental linen service might prove the basis for increasing prices. He proposed a cost index for rental linen, similar to that already produced for workwear. His company, Paragon, would be willing to work on this but he asked for two other representatives to serve on the working party.

The 2012 Olympics is an opportunity to raise prices that must not be missed, argued Richard Newton of the Opeque agency (see article in LCN December 07).

Processing hotel linen is big business for the textile rental sector, but how do hotels view laundry? “It’s the holy grail, the hotel function you get the most calls about,” said Austen Bushrod, former head of purchasing for the Accor hotels in UK and Ireland (he has recently switched to the gaming industry with the Rank Group.)

When he arrived at Accor he was asked to sort out the laundry business and volunteered to develop a best practice manual for the group’s laundry. The project took a year and involved representatives from four countries, input from 15 international purchasing departments and covered 3,700 hotels. It concluded:

• outsource where possible – hotels are not launderers;

• laundries do the same process worldwide;

• long term strategies are essential;

• hotels should not buy linen – they will not refresh stock;

• be close to suppliers;

• be responsible in your market.

He also concluded that hotels had to be prepared to increase investment and to recognise laundry costs. “I was doing that without being asked but launderers should ask for better prices.”

The Accor group values the laundry sector and does not take its decisions on price alone but considers the longevity of the supply line.

Hotels and service suppliers were partners and needed to understand and share priorities. Suppliers need to deliver a full service and make sure they can deliver on promises. They may be able to get better prices if they explore and charge for value.

All industries need employees with good skills and formal training that leads to qualifications helps to ensure this.

The government body, Skillfast UK, is working with employers and trainers to develop skills within the laundry and drycleaning sectors and is developing NVQs.

Bridgwater College, a large tertiary college, has been the centre for developing a model for these qualifications, endorsed by the sector advisory board and the TSA.

Theresa Holden from the college gave an account of how the model has been developed. As a first step an employer needs to commit to the training.

This was then developed within the company with a dedicated trainer/assessor.

Typically it involved one day a week for 20 weeks for groups of 8 - 12 employees.

Johnsons Apparelmaster has been working with Bridgwater College and David Kinson gave his view.

NVQs have been discussed for many years, but now a training model has been developed and it works.

As an employer, Johnsons Apparelmaster had to make a commitment to provide appropriate training, identify the number of employees that it would be feasible to train as a group, encourage and support the group and make it possible for members to be assessed. It also supported the college and provided feedback.

The course at Apparelmaster involved weekly training sessions with 2 - 3 hours of group work followed by one-to-one training sessions with an assessor.

He said that when seeking employees for the first programme, the initial reaction was ”What’s in it for me?” or “What can you teach me?” However, once the programme was underway, those involved were very positive.

The company now had a queue of candidates for future programmes while students on the first course were already talking about higher level training.

He felt that the programme would benefit the company as it was helping to improve the service it supplied.

Broader view

The conference always aims to provide a mix of speakers from the textile care industry and from outside it.

This year there was a political theme with Dr Liam Fox MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, and Karen Reid of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office.

In some ways Karen Reid covered both industry and political worlds with the broad subject of security of laundry chemicals.

She explained the setting up of CTSAs (counter terrorism security advisers). The aim of these was to promote protective security: “Stop it before it happens”.

She was working with industries to make them aware of the risks and to help them take preventative measures. This type of security is essential in any sector involved in handling chemicals. In particular she was directing attention to specific chemicals including, acetone, ammonium nitrate, citric acid, and hydrogen peroxide.

She would work with TSA to develop guidelines for the textile care industries.

Further information is available on the website www.nactso.gov.uk

Liam Fox gave an overview of the UK’s defence position, seen against the global background. This year the UK spent 2% of the GDP on defence, the lowest since the 1930s.

The UK faces state-to-state risks, he said – Iran is a dangerous unstable country that should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

There are also risks from non-state players, including fundamentalist groups.

The UK must also deal with economic threats such as energy security. We need a strategy that involves a diversity of fuels – oil, gas, coal, renewables and nuclear.

We have to be able to guarantee security and transport.

The UK needs a positive approach. It must accept the reality of a dangerous, unstable world and secure its national defences.

In Liam Fox’s view, Nato is largely disfunctional. The UK must look carefully at its relationships abroad.

The European Treaty had implications for defence.

Britain cannot have two best friends, he said – we have to choose either USA or Europe. In his view, it should choose the USA.

Edward Hope, former chief executive of Brooks Service Group, made a surprise appearance. He talked about the lessons learnt as the group went into administration.

He praised the response of the staff to the situation, in particular John Duffy.

One of the main messages he had for the audience was to take care of your equipment and invest in maintenance to keep so that you can take advantage of opportunities that arise.

Roger Black, Olympic athlete drew a large crowd. For all athletes, the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games is the dream. Motivation is the key to achieving that dream. Talent is not enough – it’s the bad times that make you realise your motivation.

The goal you should have is to run your perfect race.

Good athletes also need to be adaptable – to have the ability to change a “winning formula” is a winning formula.