Local laundry business expands with new premise move

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Local laundry business, Lincoln Laundry, have relocated premises to a unit on the Lindum Business Park in North Hykeham.

Investing £250,000 into the new premise, it is five times larger than its previous home on the Birchwood Shopping Centre, and as part of the move, the business bought £130,000 worth of new industrial laundry machinery.

Lincoln Laundry offers commercial washing, drying and ironing, as well as linen hire, collection and delivery.

After eight years growing its customer base among Lincolnshire’s hotel and leisure sectors, business owner Ahmed Hassan moved into the premises just as the UK went into lockdown, but now hopes to run the business with new custom again now the restrictions are easing.

The 33-year-old, who grew up in Lincoln, said at first, it felt like the timing could not have been worse.

Ahmed said: “It was such a shock. Just as we were about to ramp up our business, our regular customers and our target customers pretty much shut their doors overnight,”

“In all honesty, it could have been the end of us.

“However, as time passed, the Government’s Furlough scheme proved to be a vital lifeline. I furloughed my team and kept their jobs open.

“Likewise Lindum proved to be a really supportive landlord, allowing me to negotiate new payment terms which compensated for the huge outlay we’d made on machinery.

“In the end, lockdown actually provided me with a bit of breathing space. We could get properly set up in our new home and take a step back to think about how the business would operate in future.”

Photo from: Lincoln Laundry

Starting the business 11 years ago as a small domestic launderette, Ahmed saw opportunity for expansion once the business saw more and more contract work coming in from local hotels and restaurants.

Ahmed is optimistic about continuing his growth plans now that lockdown restrictions are easing.

Ahmed continued: “We are up to about 70 per cent of what we were before lockdown, and are still awaiting a few clients back including wedding venues.

“We offer a hire service, where we provide fresh linen every week. Customers can have their own dedicated stock, which means they know exactly what quality of linen they will be receiving.

“All our linen is sourced in the UK and we offer an alternative to the larger laundry chains. We can service businesses as far away as Sherwood and Cleethorpes.

“We would like to focus on boutique hotels. We already work with Doddington Hall, Bishop Grosseteste University, the Old Palace and Lincoln City Football Club.

“The new space means we are competitive too – we can service over two tonnes of laundry a day.”

Click Here to find out more about the business.