Hospitality laundries, linen rental (for table tops), high costs of labour means shortage of linens.
■ How to get round this?
The hotel and laundry industries have always had such a strong support base from foreign workers and they need visas as soon as possible to be able to hire more staff. Not only do this, the workforce must be paid the proper living wage to live affordably.
■ How can you help? We could help by having more relevant stock available but that can only ever happen, and even more-so now, if the laundries and hotels help by giving accurate forecasting
We will be working closely with our clients to ensure we continue to deliver above and beyond their requirements. If we have an accurate forecast as early as possible we can provide relevant stock to avoid supply issues. As suppliers, we pride ourselves on being as supportive as possible and ensuring we work through any issues as they arise we are always here to help.
■ Any suggestions on how to buy to and organise storage to ensure supplies?
Accurate forecasting is vitally important for the supplier/ manufacturer, the laundries and the end users. It is all about communication and good relationships. People and companies will always work harder for people and companies they trust.
■ And, if hotels have been shut for a long time does that mean they don't have to buy so much new linen and towels… but how have they been storing them…
It depends on how carefully they were stored it is very possible that stocks not used for 18 months can become damaged ….. most hotels will still need to place top ups now and over the next few months as most hotels run on stock levels that are too low. They often feel they will be able to source something in an emergency but that can be a little short sighted in the current climate. Thinking ahead is even more important than it has been and we have been working with our clients to ensure everyone has the right amount of stock at all times.
■ Also the importance of sourcing sustainable linen even in this mess…
This hasn't changed, sustainability continues to be even more important, even though cashflow and margins are currently being squeezed as never before. We take pride in the fact we are leading the charge on this all of our linen is automatically sourced as sustainably as possible.