HRH The Princess Royal opens new Berendsen plant

The ceremony was attended by Berendsen Workwear's managing director Peter Haveus and Berendsen UK country manager, Mark Franklin, local plant management and staff, as well as a number of specially invited customers and business partners.

The new plant will handle protective wear and hygiene garments as well as mats and roller towels, utilising RFID chip technology and advanced machinery.

The new plant will deliver 17,000 garments to customers daily, requiring 250 tons of garments to be washed per month. In total 168 staff will be employed in the service, production and distribution teams. The factory serves the North East of England from Berwick upon Tweed on the Scottish borders to Hull in North Yorkshire and East to West coast. Typical customers include: Nestle, Cranswick, and NMUK.

The plant replaces the previous plant in Neville’s Cross in Durham, the origins of which trace back to the construction of a domestic laundry at the Neville’s Cross location on the outskirts of Durham City in 1913. Over the years the service provided has developed and specialised around the provision of protective wear and hygiene garments. With the new plant setting, Berendsen have the opportunity to expand production to two-shift production, meeting the rising demands from customers.

At the official opening, the Princess Royal met Berendsen’ s senior leadership team before being escorted on a tour around the new operational plant to meet the factory team. During her tour, HRH spoke to operatives about the specialist knowledge and skills they have developed, before unveiling a commemorative plaque celebrating the official opening.

Berendsen's UK country manager, workwear, Mark Franklin said: “We were honoured to have HRH The Princess Royal visit us to officially open this state-of-the-art operating facility and launch a new era of service delivery to the local industry."