Mr Harris worked for many years in South Africa where he founded SDML Consultancy & Training and at the time was licenced by Fabric Care Research Association to operate all training information and technical services on its behalf. More recently, he has worked in Saudi Arabia.

Norman Gill describes him as a “soap and soda in the veins launderer”, and adds that Ian has experience in all technical aspects of laundry processing including machinery, textiles and chemistry as well as being a respected trainer.