Linen is important in hospitality. It represents a significant investment that must be looked after properly to prolong its life and maintain its appearance and quality. Guests notice these things and it affects whether they book again and the reviews and recommendations they make. That can impact a business's reputation and bottom line. So choosing how to look after the linen matters. Some businesses decide to outsource to a specialist laundry service provider while others choose to retain control and ownership of the process by running their own operations in-house. Assessing the benefits of on-premises laundry operations against outsourcing is a dilemma that has never been fully resolved. But the current trend seems to signify a preference for the in-house or on-premises laundry, the OPL.
Benefits to outsourcing and the current trend towards the OPL model.
There are many benefits to outsourcing. Using the services of a specialist and removing a significant burden from the main business are among them. However, many businesses choose to retain operations in-house because they view linen as so important that standards and quality are best served by direct ownership of the total lifecycle. These are perhaps two sides of the same coin.
Cost is another factor and the margins favouring outsourcing or in-house can be small. There are good arguments for each approach and it does tend to go in phases with individual businesses and across the industry in general. There are perhaps two broad reasons why businesses currently see the benefits of on-premises laundry having the upper hand.
First, outsourcing costs are rising because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. Both are disrupting normal business operations and causing staff shortages. The most immediate impact is a rise in staffing costs which then feeds into daily operating costs.
The TSA, the trade association for commercial linen service providers, recently reported that wages for drivers who collect and deliver linen have risen by 25% and wages for laundry staff by 10% in recent months. Over the same period the cost of new linen has risen by about half, in part because the cost of containerised deliveries from overseas suppliers has risen threefold. Costs associated with cleaning products are not immune either.
In its most recent laundry cost index, the TSA reports that overall costs have increased in the last year by 3.26%. However, the organisation notes that this is does not factor in all the rises mentioned above. In other words, costs for outsourcing companies will rise further. If they want to continue making a small profit, service providers will need to pass these costs on to their customers. Bringing operations in-house can protect businesses against some cost increases.
Recent advances in linens and laundry technology
The second reason for the move back to OPL is that recent advances in linens and laundry technology ? equipment and products ? have made it easier and more economical. Businesses now find it is possible to split the operation and return a large proportion of their contracted linen back into the OPL.
To understand this, we need to look at the type of linen a hotel uses. This is generally categorised into three groups: flatwork such as bedsheets and tablecloths; terrycloth such as towels and bathrobes; and staff uniforms. Flatwork normally requires a final press, especially if starch is applied. This involves specialist pressing equipment that may not be suitable for hotel laundries due to cost and space requirements. Terrycloth is not pressed and is normally only washed, dried and folded. Less equipment is therefore needed to deal with it. Most businesses use chefs? whites but uniforms are generally only used by prestige hotels.
A lot of budget to mid-scale hotels operate with limited food service. They typically use disposable restaurant supplies and therefore have no need to wash table linen. Many of these businesses have also decided not to press bed linen. This may be from choice or because modern fabric crease less and do not need pressing. Modern fabrics can also dry more quickly, with or without special drying aids and finishing products, which also makes it more practical to deal with them in-house.
In fact, at least 50% of the linen in many typical hotels can be washed without any pressing equipment. This makes it viable to wash these items in-house and can help tip the balance from outsourcing to OPL. Other items that could be managed in-house include shower curtains, net curtains, soft furnishings, and blankets. Mops and cloths used for daily housekeeping can also be laundered on site.
