In its first full week, the production line processed more than 160,000 items of linen and the plant has the capacity to handle more than 500,000 items of linen each week.
The Cardiff laundry’s main customers will be the hotels in South and Mid Wales, the South West of England and the West Midlands. Afonwen expects that the plant’s production will reach 200,000 items a week before the end of this year, and that this will grow to more than 300,000 during 2009.
The opening of the Cardiff laundry has initially created over 35 jobs and the company expects to take on around 64 staff within the next two years.
Afonwen operates the plant to the highest environmental standards. The laundry recycles up to 70% of the water that it uses through its production process. Equipment has been supplied by Kannegiesser and installed by Clay & Abbott.
The project was financed by more than £5million of funding from Bank of Scotland Corporate and a grant of more than £350,000 from the Welsh Assembly Government. The company’s directors also invested an undisclosed sum.
Speaking at the opening, Mark Woolfenden, Afonwen’s managing director, said: “Our new production facility is already delivering a very high quality product to hotels in a region historically poorly served by the laundry industry and we have experienced tremendous interest in our service.”
