FISHERS Laundry Group, the hotel laundry specialist, has seen its profits hit after making “significant” investments in its infrastructure, and the impact of the national minimum wage, and “significant” investment in the business.
The Cupar-headquartered firm’s parent company, Fishers Topco, has filed accounts which show revenue for 2015 grew marginally to £34.9 million, but pre-tax profits dropped to £2.4m from £2.7m in 2014.
During 2015, Fishers opened what it called Scotland’s first ‘super laundry’ in Coatbridge. The facility, in which £5m was invested, has the capacity to wash and dry around 600,000 items of bed linen and towels a week for existing customers’ 8,000 hotel rooms, and potentially 4,000 further rooms.
Michael Jones, Fishers’ managing director, said: “2015 was a year of investment for Fishers, preparing for the 2016 launch of Scotland’s first super laundry, getting closer to our customers, increasing our efficiencies and further improving our environmental footprint.”
Fishers was established in 1900 and now operates from seven sites in Scotland and the north of England.
It cleans, irons and delivers more than two million items a week, providing linen rental, workwear hire and cleanroom garment services to the hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors.
Its clients include hotel chains Premier Inn, Travelodge, Accor and Jury’s, as well as prestigious venues such as the Caledonian Waldorf Astoria, Edinburgh International Conference Centre and boutique Malmaison and Hotel Du Vin chains.
“As the market leader in Scotland and the North of England, it is important that we stay competitive whilst offering the best service to our customers,” said Mr Jones. “Our investments are already having a positive impact on our 2016 performance.”
So far in 2016, Fishers has seen significant new business wins, with net revenue growth of £1m in the year to date. Earlier this year Fishers also launched its own luxury linen range, Fishers ZHEN. The new range features RFID (radio frequency identification) tracking technology, which allows Fishers to accurately track the movements of hundreds of thousands of linen items.
The company’s staff numbers fluctuate throughout the year, from about 650 to a peak in the summer months at about 850. The national minimum wage increased in October 2015 to £6.70 for those aged between 21 and 24.
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