So it was good to hear at the Cinet conference of a German campaign designed to give the public a better feeling about the industry, with concerted public campaigns highlighting the types of service consumers might want to use at particular seasons.
LCNi’s deputy editor Tony Vince attended the conference and, as he reports in this issue, one of the themes was the need for more co-operation between the various parts of the industry, drycleaners, associations and machine suppliers.
For as Chris Tebbs of IDC pointed out both at the Cinet conference, and at The Guild/TSA conference the same weekend, the problems faced by drycleaners round the world are similar, and, by extension, this not only applies to the front-line operators, but to their suppliers and associations.
We need to do more about addressing problems, such as an often hostile public, with one voice and one message. That German campaign will only work to best effect if all or most drycleaners use it and do so pro-actively. That means distributing those leaflets and magazines as widely as possible.
While sending them to an established customer base will do some good, they need to be sent to a wider audience – to those who don’t currently bother with drycleaners, to consumer magazines and to newspapers. Suppliers also need to support this campaign, for a more positive consumer attitude helps them also.
Of course many within the industry already recognise and act on the need for more support. The UK’s Textile Services Association has written to The Times following that anti-drycleaning article, and Murray Simpson has pointed out that the best drycleaners will be association members and/or have Guild Q-Stars. But how easy is it to find such a cleaner nearby? So drycleaners can support their association and training bodies by joining, by taking exams and having clear notification prominently displayed in the shops so it is visible to passers-by.
I recognise too that LCNi should be part of a concerted response to industry wide problems, and am resolving to try and help raise the image of this undervalued industry. If readers have ideas of how the industry can do this, please email me at the address below.
As I write this, I have recently returned from the UK’s conference and training forum for hospital launderers and linen service managers. The conference had some interesting thoughts to share on hygiene and on the increasingly important issue of the laundering nurses’ uniforms. The conference benefited greatly from the way such subjects were approached from different viewpoints. The talk by Paul Meads from Sunlight and the chance to share his experience of installing a cleanroom policy was particularly welcome, as this company has, in the past, tended to step away from such public roles.
Janet Taylor – jtaylor@wilmington.co.uk
