Textile rental focus

Pricing, quality, service, the long term concerns

1 November 2011



The 2012 Olympics may give a short term boost to businesses supplying table linen to hotels and restaurants but in the long term the market is concerned with providing the right products at the right price. Tony Vince reports


Price was one of the main talking points in the textile and textile rental markets in 2010. The UK hotel and restaurant sector seems to have fared better in 2011 than originally forecast but price continues to dominate.

The hospitality market is buoyant at the moment in terms of the volume of work being processed through the UK laundries, although pricing remains an issue, says Tonrose sales director Chris Kingsford. “Hotels are trying to stand firm in the face of laundries looking for increases on the back of the rise in cotton prices and dramatic rises in energy and fuel.”

It seems that the hotel sector is performing well and occupancy levels are high, he adds. This is borne out by the latest industry figures. A review of the London hotel sector by TRI Hospitality Consulting, published on its website, reports that the capital’s hotels achieved their highest level of room occupancy this year, reaching 92.4% in July 2011. In addition, according to “UK Hotels Forecast 2011 and 2012” from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the Olympics should mean that 2012 will be a successful year for London hotels.

However, despite the brighter outlook for London’s hoteliers, the slight increases in hotel occupancies in the provinces are offset by rising costs and a drop in revenue from food and beverage sales, says TRI.

Mark Woolfenden, managing director of Afonwen Laundry, the family-owned linen hire group, says that the Olympics will bring an even greater focus on London next year, with a significant number of hotels opening to capitalise on the Olympics.

However, he adds that it’s important to remember that the Olympics will only last for a short time and that businesses can’t be built on a few weeks of strong activity.

The real issue in the market is whether the laundry industry can cope. There is a significant lack of spare capacity in the sector, especially in the London market, and a number of hotels are expressing concern in terms of whether current suppliers will cope with the increased demand being generated over the Olympics period.

In his view, pricing and service levels will dominate – while hotels are seeking to hold or reduce costs, the laundry industry needs significant price increases to make it sustainable and allow future investment in the long term.

“Regretfully, there are still one or two operators who seem to be quoting prices that were commonplace 2 – 3 years ago and one has to question how can they realistically do that?”

While linen costs have fallen from their peak, Woolfenden suggests that these companies are now quoting charges that are still unsustainable given the combined effect of higher textile prices, soaring energy and other costs.

“This would indicate they are losing money and gaining turnover for the sake of it.”

Woolfenden says there is some evidence that hotel groups are prepared to pay more and accept they have to pay a higher price to achieve more sustainable service levels.

He believes that “2012 will be the year when the pressure will mount on companies that are not controlling costs and are pricing for new business at commercially unviable levels. If they are not performing and providing a good service, what future will they have?”

Woolfenden continues:“With smaller laundries struggling to survive, the industry as a whole needs to demonstrate its clear commitment to achieving higher and more sustainable pricing levels to ensure it has a bright future.”

Kingsford at Tonrose agrees that the hotel sector has been very busy in 2011, although there is a suggestion that hotels have had to reduce rates to compete, or offer deals to encourage travellers to book with them. In the provinces there is an increase in the number of smaller, boutique hotels and bed and breakfast establishments trying to compete with the corporate sector, he adds.

“The Olympics will certainly bring many visitors to the UK and the hotel sector must hope that this brings further confidence to their market, and that it continues through 2012 and beyond.”

The restaurant sector is still busy but Kingsford adds that some laundries would agree that there is a continuing trend towards polished glass or wood table tops with paper napkins and disposable table coverings.

There is still demand for 100% cotton in many marketplaces but polyester is the preferred choice of many laundries because it is cheaper to process and has a longer life expectancy than cotton. Kingsford says that one of the main concerns for laundries is the level of abuse inflicted on linen, and on napkins in particular because untrained cleaning staff see them as excellent cleaning cloths.

Protecting the investment in linen has become an urgent issue for laundries in the wake of rising cotton prices, according to Robert Adams, managing director at White Knight Laundry Services.

In conjunction with the Laundry Technology Centre, White Knight has developed a customer support test kit that is designed to help determine the cause of linen damage – and importantly, where the onus to pay for replacements should lie.

Adams says that all laundry companies’ stock suffers from both customer and laundry misuse and added that the LTC test kits would be available to any other interested laundry company.

He explains that to determine the cause of linen damage, White Knight’s stock auditors will test damaged stock in front of the customer whilst the stock is still on the customer's premises.

It will do the same within its own laundries in the presence of the laundry managers.

David Hill, sales and marketing director of Johnsons Stalbridge Linen Services, says that the company’s customers are asking for quality and not just focussing on price. He says that during the “showcase” year of 2012 – when businesses around the country will experience an upturn in demand – Stalbridge Linen’s customers will be assured that they have access to high quality products and excellent customer service.

“We find that our standard range of 13 colours satisfies our customers’ needs,” he adds. “However, many of our customers use the traditional white. The uptake of our recently launched Premier Range of polyester linen is proving buoyant.”

To respond to the increasing demand for polyester and to compete with cotton table linens, Tonrose has developed a heavier weight, spun polyester product. Its Kudos Elite range of polyester has proved a great success in the marketplace says Kingsford and further polyester products have been developed on the back of it. He adds that other polyester products will be trialled into 2012.

Kingsford acknowledges that price will continue to dominate a lot of discussions but he adds that “the shrewd, knowledgable operators know that it is not all about the price – consistent quality and reliable service have more value than price alone.”

The expected slowdown was not reflected in table linen sales at Linen Connect. National account manager Richard Yates is confident about prospects going into 2012. He says that the UK market is very buoyant at the moment.

“Despite all the doom and gloom regarding the credit crunch, the sales at Linen Connect have been very steady with good increased growth.” Yates adds that the restaurant sector is faring just as well as the hotel sector.

“This can be seen in the table linen sales, which are still very high in volume.

“Price is, and always will be, key this year, especially with the massive increase in cotton prices,” continues Yates. “However, price is not everything and you must provide good quality and a consistent product along with excellent service. This is where Linen Connect leads the industry.”

He says that there is no doubt that more customers have tried polyester table linen due to the many advantages that polyester can provide. With the cotton table linen prices becoming higher, the polyester linen is a far more attractive product.

“That said, the demand for a good quality 100% cotton table linen range is still there,” he adds. Linen Connect has a range of 100% cotton linen in ivy leaf and satin band designs to meet this requirement.

Sales of polyester table linen are increasing throughout the sector because of its durability and colour retention. Linen Connect launched the Forta spun polyester range more than a year ago.

“Our Forta spun polyester range has shown that if you launch a product with the right qualities, you can achieve massive results. The sales of Forta are huge and growing all the time. This is proof that the product represents excellent value for money.”

The company’s Cezanne range of polyester filament table linen is also doing well and continues to achieve good steady volume month-on-month, says Yates.

“This is a classic which is here to stay and Linen Connect offers all colours in all sizes.”

Yates adds that Linen Connect plans to launch several ranges in the near future and is very excited about these.

Lyndsey Oakes, sales executive at Sherry Textiles, says that the company has seen a decline in sales of 100% cotton and increased demand for polyester. Oakes believes that customers may be holding off buying in the hope that as the price of cotton falls, cheaper prices will hit the market.

“Polyester table linen is still more popular than the cotton. This year especially there has been a higher demand with cotton prices becoming as high as they have done,” says Oakes. “This year Sherry Textiles have had a growth in table linen as I think some customers that were using cotton have switched to polyester, so they have had to buy all new stock.”

Oakes says that the need to obtain the best price for stock will remain a key requirement.

Plain polyester has replaced the English rose-patterned polyester table linen as the main seller, both from the point of view of fashion and because it is cheaper.

“Some suppliers have discontinued this quality as obviously it is not as popular as it was years ago but Sherry Textiles still offers it as a standard product.”

Raj Ruia, managing director of Richard Haworth says that the general state of the market is fairly good and a big improvement on 2010, although he agrees that this improvement varies from region to region. “Naturally, Richard Haworth is expecting an upturn in the lead up to the Olympic games and we expect this to be a busy time for the whole hospitality and catering industry,” says Ruia.

On the issue of price, he points out that while buyers are looking for quality and durability, this doesn’t necessarily come at the cheapest price. Although cotton prices have reduced over the last few months, “the situation remains rather volatile”. Ruia says that the laundry rental operators have had to inject stocks of linen into their pool at unprecedented levels of pricing. “For table linen, polyester is now the material of choice for most hotel and restaurants, due to its washability, durability and price,” says Ruia. With products like the Signature Plus texturised polyester range, Ruia says that Richard Haworth is seeing increasing numbers of laundries paying slightly more up front, to reap long term benefits.

Manufactured by Milliken, the Signature Plus range has patented “soft-touch technology” to give it a cotton-like feel. The range is constructed to last and reduce pilling, so it offers better value.

The Signature Plus range of linens has been created, using advanced textile technology, with the launderer in mind. Linens must be resistant to wear and tear and staining and also able to withstand multiple hot washes each week. These are the priorities when it comes to selecting linens that look professional and are economical, says Ruia. Hard-working table linen is crucial to enable hoteliers and restaurateurs to run economic, stylish and successful operations, he adds.

“Providing customers with an all-round top class experience ensures it benefits from loyal, regular customers. Signature Plus helps laundries to offer an individual look, while providing an economic and hard wearing solution.”

Signature Plus table linen range features a plain weave fabric, which combines specially designed fibres with a soft-touch finish for a luxurious “cotton-soft” feel.

The range is available in 33 colours and 25 different sizes and it includes tablecloths, runners, placemats and napkins.

Innovation is at the heart of this linen range says Ruia. It has been specifically developed to cope with the hard-wearing washing cycles they undergo during their life in the hospitality sector.”

The range has several money-saving benefits, which are already making Signature Plus a success with hotels and restaurants.

For example, it absorbs 17% more water, cleans 24% better and the colour lasts four times longer than cotton or poly cotton, making the products longer-lasting and economical.

Signature Plus table linen is used by several of the country’s most-respected celebrity chefs.


GOOD DINING GOOD DINING


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