Miele Makeover: The runners-up

After Miele Professionally successfully ran its Miele Makeover in association with Hotel Owner – with Candaraig winning a £15,000 valued laundry kit and installation – we decided to catch up with the runners-up to find out why they entered the competition.

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Susan Henderson, proprietor at Poplars Hotel:

Tell us about your hotel – how many rooms you have and how many guests staying at any one time?

The Poplars is over 350 years old and is a traditional stone built property in the picturesque village of Moulton. It was originally 3 houses and has been some form of hostelry for over 120 years. It has a Visit England 4 Star Guest Accommodation Award.  There are 17 letting bedrooms varying in size and cost (£39.50 up to £79.50). There could be anything from 17 to over 30 people staying at one time. During the week we are very busy with mainly business people and weekends are much busier in the summer months with local events, weddings, car shows, air shows etc..

What made you want to enter the Miele makeover competition?

I read Hotel Owner regularly and noticed the competition, and immediately thought The Poplars could definitely do with a Miele makeover in our laundry room. I will have owned The Poplars for two years in early March and since purchasing it, I have been trying to update the en suites and some of the bedrooms. I have also bought new beds, fridges and freezers and am upgrading to LED lighting in most areas and thought that some new equipment for the wonderful housekeeping team would be ideal and much needed and appreciated. The entry requirements were easy so I wrote the required amount over a coffee break and hoped for the best. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

How do you currently do your laundry?

I currently outsource the majority (Johnsons) due to the lack of equipment.  In house we mainly wash smaller items such as bedroom throws and cushions, runners, shower curtains and dish cloths. This is mainly to do with space limitations and also lack of equipment. We currently have a standard washing machine which would not cope with large laundry loads. We have 2 deliveries a week with anything from 15 to 25 bags of laundry each time. I would have seriously eliminated the outsourcing if I had won the competition as the amount of rejects we receive and have to sift out is ever increasing and frustrating.

What do you think the business benefits are from managing some of your laundry on site and what difference does it make to your business?

I have recently become more drawn to the benefits of in house laundry as we have no proper control over the quality of laundry that is delivered from the outsourced company. There comes a time when towels are no longer white and pillowcases become shabby, these should of course be taken out of circulation. Currently if one of our housekeepers puts on say, a King size duvet and does not find the mark or snag until shaking out the duvet, then they have to immediately change it again and log it in the rejects bag. The bed then has to be re-made. This is time consuming for them. It is fine to find a towel or shower mat that is not up to standard but to have to re make a bed and then have to restart is incredibly annoying. In the last 2 weeks alone we have had sent back 4 full bags of rejected laundry.  I am then paying my staff to do the quality control that is expected from outsourcing.

My current supplier has recently increased their prices and I have noticed a decrease in their quality. I had a meeting with our account manager last week and am currently awaiting his feedback on the level of rejected laundry we have to send back each week. This has a huge impact on my business both financially and more importantly on my staff morale. My staff work incredibly hard and I do not like to see them disheartened with shoddy laundry and. If it continues I would either have to change companies or weigh up the costs of buying our own linen and equipment so that we can guarantee quality each time.

Has entering made you think differently about your laundry requirements?

Completely. I spent quite some time looking at the Miele Professional site and wondering which machines would firstly fit in my laundry area and how I could manage the quantities and staffing of it. There are several factors to take in to account not just the cost of what I currently pay to outsource but also the control of the quality of linen and towels.

Would you consider investing in Miele equipment in the future?

Yes I would. I think the general consensus is that anything made by Miele is going to be built to last and be efficient and top of the range. My main priority for the next few months is to continue to upgrade the en suites in the rooms and then who knows.

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John Rudden, owner of Grassington Hotel:

Tell us about your hotel – how many rooms you have and how many guests staying at any one time?

Overlooking the market square in Grassington, the Yorkshire Dales, Grassington House is a traditional family-run Georgian house offering luxury with a modern and eclectic twist, with an award-winning restaurant and nine award-winning rooms.

What made you want to enter the Miele makeover competition?

We’re a small accommodation provider but we pride ourselves on our attention to detail and on our quality. We recognised there was an opportunity to improve our service, but until we saw an overview of what this could be, we had not previously considered it.

How do you currently do your laundry?

We have been sending our laundry externally. Now we can improve our efficiency and service, but also save on costs.

What do you think the business benefits are from managing some of your laundry on site and what difference does it make to your business?

We are confident that we can continue to achieve excellent quality results, whilst reducing the storage requirements and costs of our laundry. We feel we are able to manage this better by bringing it in-house.

Has entering made you think differently about your laundry requirements?

Yes, definitely. We can see the results.

Would you consider investing in Miele equipment in the future?

Miele meets our high expectations and those of our customers, so yes, we would.

Anything else to add?

We’re really impressed with the equipment now that it is installed and already anticipate that it will make some tangible savings for Grassington House. We’re looking at where else we could use this across the business to achieve the best results, making savings across bot time and money!