The Ilkeston-based laundry and workwear specialist has been awarded a 36-month contract to supply and launder food trade white coats, boilersuits and other items for the company, which employs 230 staff at its Loscoe premises.
The contract involves dealing with 1,850 garments in circulation at any one time and the laundering of 300 items per day to ensure that Loscoe staff have clean garments at the start of every shift.
Giltbrook Workwear Rental, part of Giltbrook Cleaners, specialises in providing the highly regulated food grade cleaning, laundry and hygiene services that are demanded by the food and drink industry to comply with strict safety and hygiene legislation.
Two years ago the firm introduced an innovative system on its website to allow customers to log in and track garments in real time at any point of the day. All workwear supplied by the company is barcode labelled and holds a radio frequency identification chip which allows speedy tracking of workwear through the laundry plant from booking in to dispatch.
Both systems were supported by the Food and Drink iNet, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and Giltbrook CEO Chris Jackson believes these innovations have helped the firm to win a number of new contracts, including the Loscoe Chilled Foods Ltd appointment.
“We have invested in the latest technology which means that at a moment’s notice, clients can check what stage any garment is at and gather all the necessary information,” said Chris Jackson.
“The information is there, 24 hours a day. It represents a leap forward for us in terms of customer service, and is very beneficial to firms working in the food and drink industry, which need to have evidence of efficient cleaning and hygiene standards to comply with stringent laws governing their operation.
“We are very pleased to have secured the contract to supply and service workwear for Loscoe Chilled Foods. Like us, they are a business committed to their local area and we are proud that we are playing a part in keeping their operation running smoothly by maintaining the cleaning of the staff uniforms, on a quick turnaround, with flexible approach to react quickly to their changing needs in the food production process.”
The uniforms are serviced at Giltbrook Cleaners’ unit at Mercian Close, Manners Industrial Estate, Ilkeston, which has a rainwater harvesting, water recycling and reusing system, a high-efficiency hot water generation boiler, and the latest garment conveyor systems and monitoring through barcode and high- frequency micro chip technology.
The unit also has specialist hygiene management systems. Giltbrook Cleaners is a family-run business, which has been operating for more than 65 years and employs 41 people. Its clients include companies working in a range of sectors such as food and drink, engineering, hospitality, pharmaceutical and transport.
The contract with Loscoe Chilled Foods Ltd is worth more than £30,000 a year to the company, which recently gained supplier approval status from the 3M Health Care division. It involves selecting appropriate uniforms for food environments, adding a corporate logo and introducing a laundry management programme which includes daily collection of used workwear from Loscoe’s two sites and delivery of clean uniforms, which in the case of high care items are sealed in polythene, to eight locker locations.
Regular microbiological swabbing of garments and allergen management systems are carried out by Giltbrook to test that hygiene security is being maintained and the results are uploaded to the web portal at www.giltbrookworkwear.co.uk
Loscoe Chilled Foods technical manager Mark Curry said: “We've been delighted with Giltbrook Cleaners and the seamless way they have taken on the contract and worked with our staff. The quality of the garments, cleanliness and the aftercare service has made a big difference to our staff and feedback has been excellent. We are a lot more confident going forward with the BRC audits knowing we have online access to our workwear management information at a click of a button.”
Giltbrook Cleaners, which is a leading supplier in workwear rental and cleaning, mat provision and cleaning, locker and washroom services across the East Midlands and beyond, is committed to supporting standards in the food industry and later this month hosts an event run by industry organisation The Food and Drink Forum.
BRC One Year On takes place on September 26th from 7.45am to 10am and will hear from companies that already have the BRC standard in place. It is aimed at firms considering implementing BRC or those who would like to understand more about it.
It will be chaired by Food and Drink Forum senior technical manager Richard Wigley.
www.giltbrookworkwear.co.uk
Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk
