For David Benson, Christeyns’ field operation director, three decades in the sector has strengthened his passion for developing the next generation of industry talent – and he’s on a mission to do just that.

A remarkable 30-year career with Christeyns UK and its predecessor businesses has seen Benson’s progress through a series of senior leadership roles, building a reputation for driving business growth, developing customer relationships and mentoring future industry leaders. It’s also given him a front-row seat to some of the industry’s most significant changes, both in technology and the way laundries operate. But while the tools of the trade may have evolved dramatically since 1996, Benson says the people and relationships have remained at the heart of the business. We spoke to him about his time in the industry, the changes he’s witnessed, how he sees the industry moving forward…and the rollercoaster of supporting Liverpool FC.

On his longstanding career

Over the last 30 years, the key to long term personal and professional partnerships has been a mixture of always delivering what was promised, listening to the customer and fully matching their needs to our solutions, being good at listening and asking the right questions – and being eternally optimistic! When I started, I worked as part of a team with Frank Burn, who was the technical manager for our area, the relationship we built with the management at White Knight Laundry during our first installation lasted us a working life time and allowed us to develop within a mutually beneficial partnership.

Over 30 years there have many proud moments, having three children, being happily married, signing up my first new customer White Knight Laundry, coaching my son’s junior football team from Under six to Under 18 and seeing them all develop. Now it’s about the people – mentoring and coaching the next generation of Christeyns field and management team.

On changes in the industry

Before Oils & Soaps I was working for Paragon laundries in Moreton In Marsh, we had a break in and the laundry was burnt down (unusual for laundries!) I was then moved to Cheltenham and my job changed so I applied for a role with Oils & Soaps. Robert Burgess thought I had some potential so June 1996 was a big month for me – I got married, went on honeymoon, and started my induction in Bradford three weeks later, the rest as they say is history, but I never imagined I would still be with Christeyns enjoying work still as much as I do now. When I started with Oils & Soaps it was a small family based business only trading the UK and Ireland, good at what it did, quality products and innovative solutions to processing and dosing issues, but it was a six million turnover business.

Christeyns UK is now a 60 million turnover business, so the opportunities available to me in terms of role and career development have been extensive. In the last 30 years the working environment and culture have changed dramatically, 1996 was pagers, analogue mobile phones (with car kits), taking customers out for lunch to the pub and hand written posted out reports – we are now fully digital and have bribery and corruption legislation (none of which is a bad thing) Christeyns has evolved its culture and identity ahead of the times.

The biggest change I’ve seen in the industry has been the drive to be environmentally friendly, being utility efficient, is now essential, in 1996 CTWs used 10-12l/kg, it is now 2-2.l/kg, wash temperatures were 80°C now they are 50-60°C. This has created a need for a water and energy team within the Christeyns family, the need to have wash processes which perform well with low water consumption and reduced temperatures. This has driven innovation and led to the development of cool chemistry and the EPIC wash processes. A big change from soap and soda!

On Sustainability and innovation

The innovation towards zero carbon washing has been fascinating to see, starting with simple water to water heat recovery, flash steam recovery then air to water heat recovery from ironer vents, the possibility of air to air heat recovery on tumble dryers. The option to have a zero steam laundry with the wash heated by recovered energy only (or zero carbon using a heat pump). Followed by HydRO a full end of pipe water recycling system which allows for 80 per cent reuse of process water, providing an essential solution in today’s water scarce regions, including parts of the UK.

Wash process innovations like cool chemistry are now vital to our customers, they provide a utility ratio with extended textile life that in today’s competitive environment provides a best-in-class efficiency, EPIC is now providing solutions at sites with COD limit issues, the continually shifting landscape of the laundry sector always keeps you busy and engaged These new technologies are absolutely key to helping customers address both environmental and commercial challenges – they couldn’t achieve their desired goals without the equipment and systems we offer. Innovation will be vital to the future success of the business and is the life blood of all market leading businesses, it keeps us ahead of the game and in a position to meet our customer’s and our own challenges head on.

On the future of the industry

The drive towards more data and management through data will become increasingly prevalent moving forward, plants will be more efficient, with more innovation and automation reducing employee numbers and driving the need for a wash process that gives the best first time strike rate. In terms of which emerging technologies will have the greatest impact on water and energy efficiency, heat pumps and dryer heat recovery offer the next innovation utility reduction opportunities, the technology is there, but with everything it has to be made laundry proof.

For Christeyns there are opportunities in the years ahead for continued growth and innovation to continue to be the market leader in wash process and equipment. We have several projects where we have worked long term with our customers to use continuous improvement techniques to drive down water usage, gas usage and reduce their process gap. One particular site had a total plant water usage of 6lts/kg and a gas usage of 1.3kWh/kg over several years of investment in water and heat recovery, process change to cool chemistry and incrementally fine tuning all aspects of the process, they are now at 3.6l/kg total plant water usage and 0.85kWh/kg at a site that has boilers and steam ironers, and old equipment, not a new build site.

Another area for growth in the industry will be the use of data and the implementation of RFI tracking for linen, the biggest cost to laundries is linen loss for their customers and this is the biggest environmental improvement the sector can make, retain linen for longer and stop abuse damage.

On life outside work

Outside of work, I enjoy travel and have enjoyed recent trips to western Australia and the far east. I like to run to unwind and have a challenge this year with my daughter to complete six half marathons which we are on track to do, I completed a full marathon 18 months ago so can tick that off my bucket list. Having three dogs also keeps us busy and outside in the countryside, Norfolk and the coast is a particular favourite for us – nice beaches and open space (plus excellent pubs and cafes). I enjoy reading and the roller coaster life that is a football supporter, Liverpool being my team.