NEWS UPDATE UK


K-Bro Linen has completed its previously announced acquisition of UK-based Star Mayan for a cash purchase price of £107.2 million. The acquisition, said K-Bro, will complement K-Bro’s existing UK businesses, Fishers and Shortridge, and creates a national footprint in the UK’s £1.6 billion commercial laundry and textile rental sector.


Canada’s K-Bro seals the deal on acquisition of UK’s Star Mayan pharmaceutical sectors.


It subsequently acquired Shortridge which has operated as a family run business since the 1990s and is based in Cumbria, with plants in Workington, Dumfries and a distribution depot in Darlington.


K-Bro is the largest owner and operator of laundry and linen processing facilities in Canada. K-Bro provides a comprehensive range of general linen and operating room linen processing, management and distribution services to healthcare institutions, hotels and other commercial accounts. K-Bro currently operates eleven processing facilities in eight Canadian cities: Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.


K-Bro in 2017 first entered the UK market with its acquisition of Fishers. Fishers was established in 1900 and is an operator of laundry and linen processing facilities in Scotland, providing linen rental, workwear hire and cleanroom garment services to the hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and


Now, according to K-Bro, its focus has shifted towards integrating all three businesses to become the leading national UK platform.


The combined UK business will employ around 2,000 staff in peak season and will operate from a total of 17 UK locations, from Perth in the North to Central London in the South.


This will immediately make K-Bro a major player in the UK healthcare laundry sector and provide a platform from which to grow its existing hospitality, workwear and cleanroom businesses on a national scale.


When the announcement was made that K-Bro planned to acquire Star Mayan, K-Bro’s UK managing director, Michael Jones, said: “This is a major milestone for K-Bro. I’m proud to say that, in less than 10 years, K-Bro is growing from its roots as Canada’s largest commercial laundry


WIDE REMIT: Michael Jones, managing director of Fishers and also K-Bro’s UK managing director. Portrait by Jamie Simpson/ Fishers


company to become an international player. Our business in the UK will now have national coverage, with 17 sites and serving both healthcare and hospitality. “But more than that, it is assembling a powerful team with the drive and expertise to build further on the platform that it is creating.”


INTERNATIONAL Christeyns’ 2024 sustainability report highlights the way towards a greener future


Commercial laundry chemicals and systems provider Christeyns has published its latest sustainability report, ‘Towards a Greener Future’, highlighting the company’s commitment to sustainability across all areas of the business. The Ghent, Belgium- headquartered global supplier is known


as a responsible and ethical business with a deep-rooted responsibility to people and the planet which sees supporting customers and protecting the planet a prerequisite for success.


“Our strong focus on sustainability, innovation, and customer satisfaction has helped us grow. Our people made a real difference. Their skills, passion, and dedication added value for our customers, helping us retain long-term partners and attract new ones,” according to Alain Bostoen, CEO, Christeyns.


Below are some of the key points from the report.


Water usage has been reduced by 11% across the Group. Renewable sources now account for nearly 50% of electricity needs helped by the increase in solar panel


4


installations which have reduced overall energy use per tonne produced. For customers, the launch of LOOPIX®, an innovative pathogen detection tool for the food industry, and the increased roll out of EPIC®, an enzyme-based laundry system, are helping reduce energy and water consumption on site while effectively removing stains through precise micro- dosing.


Christeyns has broadened its carbon footprint reporting to include more than 95% of operations, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the forthcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The UK production sites have a lso joined EcoVadis, receiving awards that recognise their sustainability efforts.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45