With the temperatures dropping outside the warmth inside exuded from the gathering at the October TSA Autumn Conference, kicking off in style with a superb dinner and entertainment.

Following a night of casual networking, the next day it was down to real business at the conference. Taking place in the Sir Bobby Robson Ballroom at the Hilton St Georges Park, Burton on Trent. Delegates took their seats to hear TSA chairman Charlie Betteridge open in his usual style, mentioning the challenging times facing businesses at a time when costs are rapidly rising not helped with the squeeze from the energy suppliers. Other factors influencing the sector include the rise in the price of chemicals, in particular caustic soda, increasing by around 42 per cent. On a more positive note, he referred to the pressure on supply chains easing, with cotton becoming more readily available but a labour shortage in both laundries and hospitality remains.

Nahla Summers

TSA CEO David Stevens gave his introduction by saying the conference was a success with 120 for the evening dinner and 150 present for the conference. He continued with an update on the TSA’s current agenda and looked to the future, and how membership was increasing with prison services now joining the TSA, as members.

Stevens continued, mentioning how successful the recent roadshows have been particularly for drawing in new members. He said forecasted figures for energy costs predicting a rise of between 300 – 600 per cent based on pre-Covid numbers. He also said businesses are reporting trading and turnover are up to 83 per cent pre-Covid levels. Stevens updated changes to the TSA Board with Ian Stubbs from Jensen stepping down and Robert Tye from ABS stepping in.

His closing statement was that sustainability is high on the agenda, particularly with the number of textiles used, and as a sector we are resilient. Hopefully the TSA can influence this with the ‘Infinite Textiles’ drive to extend the life of products.

With the formalities of the introductions over it was time for the first speaker of the day, Nahla Summers. Summers is a cultural change consultant; she told the conference ‘how to bring kindness and wellbeing to the workplace.’ Summers own heartbreaking account of how the sudden death of her partner and a brief encounter with a stranger on the beach encouraged her to take on new challenges, including cycling across America on a bike bought from eBay, climbing Kilimanjaro raising £15,000 for future challenges including walking 500 miles through the UK and a 5,000 mile trip on an ElliptiGO through almost every city in the UK, saying that without the help of strangers offering her a bed and meals, these challenges would have been impossible to complete. Summers believes that everyone should have core values including removal of blame, social awareness, self-awareness, gratitude, empathy and kindness. Having a proven track-record of greater productivity and reduced stress in the workplace, who can argue with her philosophy.

After light refreshments, brand development and sustainable strategies was on the agenda for the next speaker Christoph Geppert. Geppert spoke of how the drive for Net Zero 2050 is a major factor on the road to sustainability and to reduce all emissions by 90 per cent by 2050 at the latest. And now with 120 countries in the race to become Net Zero the pace is picking up.

Louise Minchin

TSA’s energy consultant Paul Dilley from Fox Energy gave the lowdown on the current market, the frustrations and hurdles businesses are trying to overcome with stark price rises arising from numerous factors including the recovery from Covid, and the war in Ukraine, which he feels will be with us for at least the next 24 months. However, he does say that it’s highly unlikely there will be a shortage in the supply of fuel to the market over the coming winter period and recent reports in the press are simply scaremongering. Dilley said as a word of warning businesses should be budgeting for a delivered cost of circa 12-15p pkWh for gas and 40-45p pkWh for electricity – even under the government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme and should plan for the new norm for gas to be in the region of 5p – 8p/kWh from 2025. He also expects the existing government relief scheme to be extended for another three to six months from 1 April 2023 as the market is forecast to be higher then, than when the scheme was initially introduced and failure to extend the scheme would be catastrophic to businesses – a point that the European associations ETSA and DTV echoed. He also raised the importance of entering into the correct term of contract to ensure businesses gained the maximum benefit from the scheme, without committing themselves to an excessive cost increase for longer than is necessary.

With vast experiences in the steam, textile and mechanical engineering sectors, Daniel Wells from Spirax Sarco addressed the conference. The main theme of his presentation was how steam is an efficient carrier of heat energy and 50 times more energy can be produced from steam than water, produces less carbon emissions and uses less fuel to run machinery. Wells went on to say the challenges faced are how we find alternative ways to generate steam either through steam traps, or sustainably from hydrogen burners using green hydrogen through the process of electrolysis. Creating a steam battery is another sustainable way of storing the steam energy by charging the battery (store) using renewable energy such as wind, for example.

Before the break for lunch were Elena Lai, General Secretary of ETSA and Andreas Schumacher MD of DTV. Lai provided the European perspective on the laundry industry and how ETSA has taken on the role of bringing all the national associations together. Schumacher in his words, described the challenges in Germany of how the loss of Russian gas has affected laundries, with the knock-on effect of the hotel industry now having to turn away customers and how one-third of businesses are facing up to 90 per cent operational losses. DTV have also introduced e-learning by way of the E-WASHBOARD app. A digital learning platform for laundries and drycleaners where the learning can be done at your own pace and convenience, whether at work or home, and is available in many different languages.

Lai also shared how ETSA are actively trying to recruit new people to the sector. However, a recent survey said that 67 per cent of people said they do not understand the role of the textile service industry.

Providing an update on the Hospitality Round Table discussions, participants from Johnsons Hotel Linen, TDS Commercial, Bourne Leisure and Travelodge spoke of the challenges and how hospitality and laundry are working together. TSA’s Shyju and Emma provided information on the ‘Knowledge Networks’ and the new steering groups, with key areas being covered: Sustainability, Health and Safety, Apprenticeships, Technical standards, and People, plus how the TSA are partnering the Salvation Army on the drive for ‘Infinite Textiles’ and an update on their ongoing partnerships with the DMU and UK Hospitality.

Keynote speaker, Louise Minchin from BBC Breakfast fame, described herself as a ‘News Nerd’ with a passion and now an obsession for endurance sports. She spoke of her life as a celebrity and the draw of the five triathlons and other punishing events across the globe she has undertaken. After jumping straight off the plane from San Francisco after a challenging swim from Alcatraz she told the conference about her struggles with menopause, best interviews and losing her best friend presenter Bill Turnbull to prostate cancer.

Andreas Schumacher and Elena Lai