TSA calls on Truss: “Save our commercial laundries”

6 September 2022


UK
Rising energy prices for laundries could cause massive problems for whole UK economy and the Texrtile Services Association (TSA)  has lost no time in calling on new Prime Minister Liz Truss tostep in to save commercial laundries as the energy crisis reaches new heights.

Withing hours of the announcement of Truss’s selection to head up the Conservative parrtyand become our next Prime Minister, TSA penned an open letter calling on her to urgently consider immediate measures to help the commercial laundry industry as part of the emergency budget to deal with rising energy costs.

The commercial laundry sector plays a key role in the UK economy but one that was overlooked during the Covid-19 pandemic by the government and denied assistance because it falls between the definitions of various primary and secondary sectors.

The TSA recently surveyed its members asking them about the kind of changes in energy prices they are seeing. All responding companies reported significant increases, with rises of anything from 300% to 1500% being forecast over the coming months.

“Without laundries, sectors like hospitality, healthcare and many others wouldn’t be able to operate,” said David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “At the start of the year, energy costs represented 10% of a commercial laundry’s overheads but we are looking at increases of several orders of magnitude of that.”

The TSA is concerned that without decisive action there is a risk of companies going out of business, which could have cascading effects as sectors that rely on laundry services are unable to access them. “The increased costs would have to be passed on to customers, and at that level it would generate inflationary pressures,” said Stevens. “Laundry tends to be a business that works behind the scenes, so most people don’t realise we’re there. Without laundry, hospitality would have to shut down within a day. The healthcare sector would last two days. The damage that would be caused by not supporting the laundry industry would be catastrophic for the UKPLC as a whole.”

The TSA is calling on the new government to put measures in place that supports the industry as it is an energy intensive user. The proposed measures include rate relief, low interest long term loans, qualification for grants previously denied the industry, along with subsidised energy costs and the introduction of an industrial energy cap.

“We are doing what we can to help our members reduce their costs, but with price increases this large it will make little actual difference,” says David. “We urge the new Prime Minister to take swift action to ensure that laundries aren’t forgotten during this crisis.”

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. 

 

 



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