2024 was another busy year for Regenex – we’ve been used to those – but this one was different. Something changed forever, and for the better. PAUL HAMILTON, our technical director, is here to pin down what happened and why.
What will you remember about 2024? The Labour Party enjoyed a landslide general election victory and the reputation of the Post Office was utterly shredded.
Oppenheimer ruled the Oscars, Taylor Swift was Queen of everything and Gary Lineker finally quit Match of the Day.
Meanwhile the UK laundry sector, collectively, made serious moves towards its sustainable future. If linen suppliers to the hospitality industry were not quite on the same page, that page was certainly in everyone’s sights.
We’ve known for years now that low carbon shouldn’t just be an ideal. That ‘doing the right thing’ by the environment is really the only thing, if you want to survive and thrive as a business in the 21st century. That eco-conscious staycationers really do hunt out and pay more for accommodation that’s kinder to the planet.
But 2024 was the first year that the sector, en masse, began to embrace this and focus on real, tangible change.
Careful operations and conservation of resources also make good commercial sense – and this was more crucial than ever in savage times of rising costs across the board.
With the pandemic firmly behind us, but continued tough trading conditions expected, now was the time to take circularity seriously.
Laundries became very interested in saving money and carbon. And Regenex, which helps savvy players do both of these things, was central to this zeitgeist.
Since our inception in 2018 we have been talking about how getting the most out of linen cuts costs as well as carbon footprints, but in 2024 more owners and managers than ever before were ready to listen.
We were heartbroken by this year’s Textile Services Association figures suggesting that up to 50% of linen doesn’t last four months, due to marks or damage, when this length of service should be two years.
The high price of such churn is clear when it’s considered that the value of linen required for a standard hotel room comes to £50 – the cost of a budget overnight stay.
As the year draws to a close, we are delighted that many more laundries are as passionate as we are about loving linen longer. We’re happy to report we now service more than 20 contract laundry groups and counting.
It’s clear that times are changing, from the launch of the TSA’s Infinite Textiles Scheme to promote sustainable handling of textile products, to moves that are certain to outlaw single use plastic coverings for freshly laundered linen.
This all sounds very worthy but at Regenex we’ve also had fun in 2024. We saved the day for revellers and ravers at the Leeds Festival by delivering beautiful bedding, super quick, for luxury accommodation brand Pink Moon.
We’ve been particularly busy in London, adding another three customers to our portfolio, and further cleaning up within the high-end hospitality market in the capital.
And thanks to our partnership with Downton Dry Cleaning, Laundry and Linen Hire, the beds and bathrooms of Devon and Cornwall were pristine and blemish-free.
Working with customers to come up with bespoke solutions is what drives us.
Long may we share that desire for greater efficiency and thrift for the common good of our customer businesses, their traveller and holidaymaker guests – and the planet we all inhabit – in 2025, and long beyond.