UK Launderer Exits Business

Bates of London, an independent hospitality laundry in London for more than a century, recently shut down and went into receivership for the second time in two years, according to news reports. The company’s business collapsed during COVID-19, and neither the British government nor the company’s landlords offered to help, said Managing Director Matthew Pantlin. Then the war in Ukraine broke out and utility costs—especially for natural gas—skyrocketed, he said. Bates also lost work to a national laundry chain that undercut the company when Bates had to boost prices to cover its rising costs, he added ...