The agreement aims to ensure that launderers and drycleaners will in future be able to find enough employees with relevant skills.

It is the result of five years’ research, working closely with employers and training providers to identify the weaknesses in the textile care industry. It sets out Skillfast’s findings on the requirements, mapping out the skills employers need and how these will be acquired, both now and in the future.

At the launch, chief executive Linda Florance and chairman Edward Stanners underlined by the need for skilled staff by showing examples of clothing and linen, supplied by Tibard, that would need specialist cleaning and laundering techniques.