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London bar, pub and restaurant group, ETM, has praised its workwear, linen, washroom and mats services supplier, Elis, for its support during the pandemic.
Elis began providing services to ETM Group during the pandemic in 2020 and supported ETM with a flexible approach to the service roll-out and with a rental model that meant there were no large up-front costs. The Elis team supplied items to the venues when they were able to re-open, scaling up and down as necessary and working in partnership with ETM during this challenging time.
ETM Chief Financial Officer, Landen Prescott-Brann, said: “Elis won the tender to supply a suite of services, as part of our plan to simplify and consolidate suppliers across the business. They won the tender on value for money, efficiency and their passion for the business, and they run their services efficiently and professionally. Prior to appointing Elis, I used to be made aware of problems with the services, especially washroom, but now I don’t hear of any problems, which is a real credit to Elis.
“What really stands out for me though, is how Elis have been so supportive during the pandemic. Their rental model gave us far more flexibility and control over our cashflow, and we didn’t have to commit a huge amount of money at the start, which was really important. They worked with us to meet our requirements and have been incredibly supportive around payment plans during the pandemic, which is something I will remember.
“ETM Group has 14 venues, mainly in the City, including sports bars with great AV and tech, and high end bars and restaurants, including one of the best rooftop terraces in London. The sites have very little storage space, so the ability to rotate stock and not hold as much stock on the premises is paramount.”
Elis is providing ETM Group with over 12,500 laundered workwear and linen items a week. It supplies its workwear and linens on a cost-effective rental basis, so there are no up-front purchasing costs. There is also flexibility to make additions, reductions, and free size exchanges to reduce costs when employees change.
For organisations of all sizes, Elis collects used workwear, professionally launders and maintains it, and returns the clean workwear to an agreed schedule, ensuring that sufficient workwear is available, and that those wearing it are comfortable and look the part.
Elis is also providing a range of washroom products and services to meet each venue’s requirements. The service, including regular scheduled service visits to each venue, is run by the local Elis site, with regular communication from the local account manager.
Craig Easton of Elis commented: “Prior to working with Elis, ETM Group used a range of different suppliers for its workwear, linen, washroom and mats services. Not only did this mean multiple transactions and invoices, but there were elements of these services that did not fully meet their requirements. Elis has been able to provide all services, from one local Elis site, with proactive and regular account management, delivering a flexible and reliable service that meets ETM Group’s requirements. In addition, Elis has been able to reduce the cost of the services overall.
“Elis completed an audit of every venue to identify what chefs’ wear, linens, washroom and mats services were being provided by the previous suppliers and to provide a new recommendation. Elis was able to ‘right-size’ the requirements and recommend more efficient stock levels in some areas, which also helped to reduce costs.
“Elis’s operational flexibility has assisted ETM Group, with a more reliable, efficient and streamlined delivery model. Elis has been able to reduce the time and resource of ETM’s own staff in dealing with laundry and washroom challenges. ETM Group’s workwear and linen requirements can fluctuate over the year, so Elis meets with the team every three months to look at the usage of items and to adjust stock accordingly. This is possible because all Elis items are tracked using barcodes or radio frequency ID tags to gather information such as their usage rates, non-laundered items and hygiene reports, to assist with compliance and garment management, and provide a high level of accountability.”
