U.S. hoteliers and laundry operators can learn valuable lessons from their British cousins on converting customer-owned goods (COG) laundry services to rental plans. That was the message that two United Kingdom (UK) consultants brought to a Sept. 27 TRSA webinar titled “Why UK Rental Linen Leads and How the U.S. Can Follow.”

While earlier top-down efforts to encourage the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) to implement laundry outsourcing fell short, the good news is that in the 15 years since the last major advocacy effort in this area, today’s less-centralized VA has seen veterans’ hospitals from California to Maryland opt out of on-premise laundries (OPLs) in favor of outsourced services.

More of us are living longer, says a new report commissioned by the federal government. And you know what that means – demand for space in nursing homes or rehabilitative care is sure to increase – in fact it’s likely to double in less than 45 years.

As hotels see increased occupancy from summer vacationers, particularly in markets like Florida and Southern California, one question facing hotel managers is whether or not to continue operating their on-premise laundries (OPLs). A decision to shutter OPLs – even if temporarily – due to cost or health concerns stemming from the pandemic, creates the potential for outsourcing to hospitality launderers, according to several operators contacted by Textile Services Weekly.