EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Norfolk laundry washes cleaner and greener thanks to EEDA

29 September 2008

A Great Yarmouth laundry will be using the latest technology to achieve a world-class wash thanks to a £75,000 grant from EEDA.

EEDA chair, Richard Ellis opened the new laundry at Camplings Linen Services, in Great Yarmouth.

New machinery will cut the amount of water and energy needed to clean linen from the tourist industry in Norfolk and Suffolk — making the laundry one of the best in the world for environmental efficiency.

Richard said:

“The new cleaner, greener machinery will use the latest technology to ensure that the water and energy consumption are comparable with the lowest levels of any laundry, worldwide.

“Tourism and the hospitality markets are an essential part of the economy of the East of England.  A high level of service is an important element of successful tourism, which can then compete with overseas holiday destinations.” 

He added:

“Good service is something that Camplings lives by.  I know from my own experience in running a family business in the tourism sector, how important it is to have high service standards.”

The £600,000 scheme to reorganise and upgrade Camplings’ Southtown site means that the new laundry is capable of processing an additional 100,000 towels per week. EEDA provided £75,000 towards the project under its Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE) programme.

The SFIE programme is open to small and medium-sized businesses in, or relocating to, Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The scheme’s primary aim is to drive growth in the region’s businesses by improving productivity and creating, or safeguarding, skilled jobs.

Camplings co-director Richard Turvill said:

“This new washing machine weighs 7.5 tonnes but uses a quarter less water per kilo of linen processed than a typical industrial machine.

“In terms of energy savings, we have very sensitive thermostats and infra-red systems, which have reduced the energy used to dry items such as towels, by 15 per cent.”

• Download image of Richard Ellis opening the new laundry at Camplings   (JPG 2MB)
• Download full press release   (DOC 166KB)

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