The Advantages of a Flexible Laundry and Linen Hire Service

Whether you are the proud owner of a small restaurant with a strictly local clientele or you are running a large chain of hotels catering to guests from all over the world, access to fresh linen in excellent condition will be a necessity if your business is to thrive and survive in the long term.

Washing tablecloths and bed sheets sounds like a simple job to those who are not involved in the hospitality industry and, as long as you only have one or two items to deal with at a time, it is probably fair to say that it is indeed a relatively easy task. 

However, when you are responsible for ensuring that hundreds, or even thousands, of items of linen are not only scrupulously clean but in A1 condition too, it becomes much harder to achieve. 

Plus, when you’re faced with the same task on a weekly or even daily basis, the mind boggles: some businesses literally fold due to the complexity of the issue with which they are faced.

Relying on Expert Assistance

The trick to running a business of any size is to know when to delegate and, of equal importance, who you can trust to carry out the jobs that you delegate on a regular basis. If you are running a large hotel and your in-house laundry team is simply not coping with the volume of work they are being asked to handle, you need to take action sooner rather than later. 

You don’t have time to supervise the work yourself, so what you need is an experienced specialist who knows the laundry business inside out and who understands the importance of delivering a fresh, clean linen supply when it is needed.

Delegating to a Linen and Laundry Service

In this case, the easiest path to take is to outsource to a linen rental specialist who can cater to all your needs immediately. If you can find one that offers a flexible service with no long-term contracts to sign, so much the better. The advantages of such a service are manifold:

Ability to React Swiftly to Changes in Demand 

If you are running a hotel that has been operating at 70% occupancy for many months, you have probably allowed your stock of hotel bedding to fall to a level that is just right for the number of guests you are accommodating. However, in the event that there is a sudden upswing in business, you may find yourselves having to pay over the odds for new linen to ensure that it arrives in good time. 

On the other hand, if you work with a linen hire company instead of maintaining your own stock, you can increase your weekly order as soon as occupancy rates increase, without any need to purchase new stock. Plus, because hire companies like Stalbridge offer flexible contracts, the financial effect of a drop in occupancy rates can be eradicated by simply reducing your weekly linen order.

Consistent Standards  

Hotel and restaurant laundering facilities can get chaotic when they have to operate at full capacity. If you have observed one during a particularly busy period, you will know how easy it is for mistakes to occur in such a hectic environment. 

However, a specialist laundry service will have standard operating procedures in place and plenty of spare capacity as far as staff and equipment are concerned, to avoid the possibility of becoming overwhelmed. For this reason, they are able to maintain consistently high standards more easily than the majority of in-house operations.

Choice 

When an in-house laundry operation starts to falter, there is very little that the business in question can do about it, except to wait for the situation to improve. However, if you work with an outside firm that does not demand you make a long-term commitment, the solution to any drop in performance is simple: move to another supplier. 

While this would involve a certain amount of work on your part – finding, evaluating and negotiating with new suppliers – you would at least have a choice to make. If you do not wish to put all your eggs in one basket as far as clean linen is concerned, you can work with 2 or even 3 different suppliers and shift the workload as soon as one of them shows signs of slipping standards.

Expert Advice 

Whether you have been in the hospitality industry for years or you are a fresh recruit from university, you are sure to find that an expert laundry service knows a little more about their job than you do. 

If you are ever in need of expert advice regarding table linen, chefs uniforms, kitchen cloths or bed linen, you can rely on your supplier to come up with the goods. This is one reason that some of the best hotels, restaurants and cafés in the United Kingdom take the time to establish close working relationships with reliable suppliers such as ourselves.

Timely Deliveries 

A reputable linen supplier will know just how important it is for businesses in the hospitality industry to receive their orders on time every time. As long as you choose your supplier carefully, never again will you have to hear excuses as to why the two dozen tablecloths that you needed an hour ago are still at the depot and will not be with you until tomorrow afternoon. In the event of a laundry disaster, a linen hire company should be able to draw on new stock to replace the ruined items immediately.

Count On Us for Your Hotel Linen Supply

If you are convinced that working with an outside linen hire and laundry company is the right move for your business, get in touch with Stalbridge today and let us know what you need. We work with businesses of all sizes, right across the United Kingdom, so wherever you happen to be located we are sure to be able to meet your needs in full. We have a fantastic range of high quality bed linen, table linen, chefs whites and other items that are essential for hotels and restaurants operating in the UK.