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Thames Valley 250 spotlight TV 250 No 220: White Knight Laundry Services (H. Tomlins)


Scale: £11.3 million annual sales; Staff: 245; Sites: Reading, Eastbourne, Woking


Scope: B2B work (mainly hospitality) 75%; B2C (domestic households) 25%


Founded: 1904 by Herbert Tomlins (Board includes 4th generation of family)


Head office: George St, Reading, Berkshire


In the next few months, a new multi-million pound steam-free laundry will open in Reading making White Knight one of the most advanced energy efficient and environmentally friendly laundry companies in the UK, using 50% less energy and 80% less water than standard laundries. It will also mark the resurrection of a Thames Valley business that was stumbling into the new millennium with turnover reducing by £1 million per year


White Knight aims to be green laundry leader


In business terms, ‘white knights’ are meant to save ailing companies. The well-named White Knight Laundry Services did just that – but for itself.


This is a success story about acceptance of change, bold investment, harnessing of 21st century technologies, and the provision of excellent customer- focused laundry services.


As the recession hit, White Knight was in trouble. A bold rescue was required.


When Robert Adams became MD in 2009, having worked for White Knight since 1999, Eastbourne was its flagship laundry site. The Reading site had closed in 2002, but re-opened in 2010 on the prospect of customer growth. It was an impetus that set the company thinking more progressively.


“Our domestic B2C business was profitable, and we were actually busy in our traditional laundries, but we were not making any profit from our B2B laundry work. We had been slow to react to technological change and our costs were out of line with market pricing,” admitted Adams.


FD Julian Woolcock joined White Knight in late 2011, importantly


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with property sector experience. “It was clear that the company was asset rich, with no borrowing, but was trading in decline. It needed to reallocate its finances to achieve a path to success.”


“Reading is an ideal hub for the south of England, and had to become so for our business,” added Adams. “We just needed to finance the investment.”


On December 4, 2012, Adams and Woolcock convinced the shareholders and Board to join the 21st century. A £10m growth plan, which promised to triple shareholder value in three years, was sanctioned.


With the laundry industry maturing and technology enabling cost reduction and larger business volumes, White Knight also made the astute decision to focus on customer service, the premium market, and B2B hotel business.


White Knight remained gearing- free by selling London properties well (including its original 1904 carpet-cleaning site). It invested in the development of its well-located Reading site, buying leading high- tech laundry equipment to improve productivity, quality, costs, margin and overall competitiveness.


Julian Woolcock and Robert Adams in White Knight’s new Reading laundry


Ironically, White Knight’s success today is based on its shift to steam- free technology. A century ago the company was an industry pioneer in steam laundry technology. “We now heat water as we use it without the need for a gas hungry boiler, saving heat and transferring it back to the cold water, avoiding the risks of pressurised steam, and providing an ambient temperature workplace.”


More importantly, White Knight’s new state-of-the-art steam-free laundry will increase its throughput volume to an optimum 750,000 laundry pieces per week.


“Last year, this laundry handled 50,000 pieces per week and was busy. With the new equipment, we’ll do 400,000 this year and still have the scope to grow,” says Woolcock.


Meanwhile the heat capture and recovery systems will significantly reduce energy usage.


“We have the biggest steam-free washing tunnel in the world, designed uniquely for us, and it can be customer-programmed for specific washes and bespoke laundry wash and finish. Within our business, flexibility is key and we can honestly tell customers: ‘You can have laundry your way’,” Woolcock explains.


Adams adds: “We are using technology to help us compete better in the marketplace, grow the business and set new industry standards.”


Automated equipment now continuously moves laundry around the site. Staff skills and knowledge are efficiently used in the process. “No-one touches the linen until they need to,” says Woolcock.


Nowadays, CSR and quality standards are important to customers. White Knight has these along with its own water borehole, computerised


Business THE M A GA ZINE THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2014 TM


vehicle route planning, dynamic scheduling, ecological detergent usage, and solar panels.


“Add-on aspects are important differentiators,” says Adams. “Today, we always look at things from the customer viewpoint; take our customer service a step further.”


Recent White Knight research has revealed that nine out of 10≠ hotel guests won’t return if sheets and towels aren’t up to scratch.


White Knight’s new sales and marketing teams (plus new company branding and interactive real-time customer website) have achieved much in an industry where customers are often reluctant to change their providers.


“The green message is a really strong case for winning people over,” states Adams.


“We are confident of going into 2014 able to wow our customers and our shareholders, not least because of the weekly turnover level we are taking into the new year.”


White Knight is now potentially a laundry industry game-changer.


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