After graduating in Business Studies in the early 80s, Barbara Cooke began her career selling software solutions…

…rising through the ranks to become managing director of a software company in her 30s. But juggling the needs of a young family with the non-stop travel and 12-hour days began to take its toll and Barbara sought a better work life balance.

BC SoftWear was born in 2002 when friends who had moved to Turkey were thinking of importing towels. Barbara witnessed first-hand the quality of the towels and linens being produced there and saw an opportunity to partner with them. Barbara came up with the name BC ‘SoftWear’ overnight and, soon after, secured her first client, Cliveden House. This was followed by The Savoy, who then recommended Barbara to Claridge’s Hotel. Now, 21 years later, BC SoftWear one of the leading textile supplier for luxury hotels and spas in the UK, France and worldwide.

Barbara believes coming into the laundry industry as a complete outsider positively impacted BC SoftWear’s growth, as she had no preconceived opinions of textiles or towels, only fresh ideas and a strong problem-solving instinct, having worked in software solutions. Barbara was unique in her approach, interviewing housekeepers at leading five-star hotels, listening to their problems and issues, before creating bespoke towelling solutions specific to their needs. This methodology led to the creation of BC SoftWear’s flagship product – the Sumptuous range.

After bidding for the contract with a consortium of laundries, BC SoftWear became the preferred supplier for ALS which became known as Brilliant Laundries. The company now manufactures exceptional quality spa linen, towels, luxury bathrobes and footwear for laundries, hotels and spas in more than 34 countries.

I strongly believe female business leaders have more empathy and understanding towards people and business needs, which has certainly helped me enormously in building long-term relationships with customers and industry leaders.

On being a female leader within the industry…

I may run a female-led business in the male-dominated textile industry, but I have never felt disadvantaged. When I began BC SoftWear, most hotels’ senior managers were male, our competitors were run by men and the commercial laundry sector was 95 per cent male. However, from raising initial finance to bidding for laundry contracts, I actually think being female was to my advantage. For a start, as a lone female in a male-centric sector, people remembered me! I strongly believe female business leaders have more empathy and understanding towards people and business needs, which has certainly helped me enormously in building long-term relationships with customers and industry leaders.

On staff retention in the industry today…

I believe very much in promoting from within. BC SoftWear’s longest serving employee started 15 years ago and just retired, having worked in every department. Our customer operations manager, Sophie Thompson, started eight years ago as an embroidery operative and Mark Fisher, our warehouse manager, has been with us for a decade, starting as a warehouse picker/packer. Karen Hesketh came to me from the laundry industry 12 years ago. She worked as a salesperson at Chester Laundry, fell in love with our towels and approached me for a job! Now she’s business development manager for the North. We are first and foremost a family business. Sam, my son, started working at BC SoftWear unloading containers in his teens and has worked his way up to be my co-director. For me, family means more than flesh and blood – each of our employees are family and I think above all else, that’s what’s key to retaining staff. If you’re an honest, caring and thoughtful employer with true values in life and in business, you’ll attract and retain the right people.

On the industry’s commitment to sustainability…

Behaving in a more environmentally conscious way is no longer just a nice ‘extra’ for companies; sustainability needs to be part of our DNA.

Our team has noticed a distinct shift in customers seeking more sustainable options, with increased requests for environmentally friendly ways to meet towelling needs, that don’t compromise on quality. The International Tourism Partnership states the hospitality sector must reduce its carbon footprint by 90 per cent by 2050, to keep global warming below the two-degree threshold agreed upon in the Paris Agreement.

We’re committed to running our business in the most sustainable way and created the SmartSoft range, including SupremeSoft robes, towels and spa linens. It’s a game changer for laundries, using 70 per cent less energy compared with a traditional towel, 10 per cent less water and requiring 30-40 per cent less drying time. BC SoftWear considers the environmental impact of everything we do. We’ve moved to using paper wraps and corn starch for all our packaging, saving 50 tonnes of single-use plastic each year; our principle factory is powered by solar panels with its own water treatment plant to reuse waste water, and we’ve swapped shrink wrap for reusable rubber bands to secure our pallets.

There are lots of small sustainability wins in our industry and it’s those changes that matter. For example, we’re currently investigating solar panels for our Berkshire office. We’re part of the Better Cotton Initiative, and we also work alongside Reskinned, specialists in recycling end-of-life textiles. We are now working to introduce each of our hotel partners to this recycling option, to support the circular economy.

Always look at your suppliers in terms of their overall offering; what are they doing to protect the planet? How are items packed? Have they removed all plastic? Are they still shrink wrapping? Don’t be fooled by greenwashing, where false information is put out by an organisation to present it as environmentally responsible. Do your homework to make sure you choose a supplier that’s proactively working to turn sustainability goals into actions.

On collaboration within the industry…

BC SoftWear is a member of the Textile Services Association and attends their conferences to collaborate with our peers. For me, the one-to-one approach has always worked best – we visit the laundries, we listen to their needs, we talk to housekeepers, then we create solutions.

Housekeepers are so important for this industry. In fact, our first spa product – the Serenity Waffle Range – was created for the executive housekeeper at Claridge’s, who wanted a spa towel she could easily differentiate in the in-house laundry. We were one of the first companies to introduce 650gsm towels into laundries, allowing them to offer a second, higher-end pool stock and capture business opportunities within the luxury hospitality sector, which traditionally bought their own stock. Laundries demand quality from us. It’s from talking to them that the texture, weave and pile of BC SoftWear robes and towels is like it is – designed for both soft sensation on the skin and the quick dry practicalities of the commercial laundry.

Barbara Cooke (centre) and son, Sam (right) chatting to visitor Rona Tait from TDS Commercial Ltd at Hospitality Expo, part of the larger CleanEx Expo held at Ascot Racecourse in April last year