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How to encourage recruitment for the commercial laundry sector in the face of national staff shortages? After a successful pilot in 2024, the TSA (Textile Services Association) has announced the dates for next year’s Laundry Open Week, which will run from 24–28 March 2025.
“Getting in front of potential recruits is made harder by the fact that every other industry is trying to do the same,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “It’s a busy, noisy, crowded space. But we have so much to offer: a great career path, decent wages, an ethos of support and diversity, a growing sector, the use of the latest technology…. Laundry Open Week is the chance to get the message across.”
The TSA has worked closely with ETSA, the European Textile Services Association, to develop the Laundry Open Week initiative. During the week commercial laundries across the UK and Europe will open their doors to allow visitors to see and discuss the range of careers available. Part of the message is the diversity of careers on offer: of the UK’s commercial laundry workforce of 24,000 or so, only about a third handle the laundry. The Week will underline all the other opportunities, such as engineers, customer service reps, HR, drivers, sales and finance teams.
It’s not just about career opportunities: the Week is also an opportunity to underline some of the industry’s forward-thinking initiatives, around areas like sustainability, inclusivity and mental health, since these also prove attractive to potential staff.
One of the companies who took part in 2024 was Micronclean. “We found it very positive,” says Nyle Chapman, the company’s Learning and Development Officer. “The people who attended came with limited knowledge of the industry and of us as a company – and they left knowing a lot more! Subsequently several of them applied for positions with the company. Seeing what we do at first hand definitely changed their perceptions of our industry and of the careers it offers. We look forward to being involved in the 2025 Open Laundry Week.”
“Our industry is a real hidden gem, and it can be a great career for many people,” says Stevens. “We are keen to showcase to the general public what we can offer. The UK’s first Laundry Open Week was very much a pilot, and I’d like to thank all of our members who took part. We are looking forward to see how we can build on this event in 2025. There were some good lessons learned and it will be great to have more laundries taking part.”
The TSA is putting together resources for any laundries who want to participate in Laundry Open Week 2025. For more information contact the TSA.
