Watch: Helping Taylors Laundries clean up the competition

Founded in Christchurch in 1919, Taylors Laundries began its journey as a cleaning and dyeing service.

Over the years it has grown through strategic acquisitions and mergers, adding the likes of finishing services, dry cleaning, surgical sterilisation of linen as well as managed workwear and uniforms.

It remains dedicated to providing high-quality services to its diverse clientele, including hospitals, hotels, airlines, factories, and government agencies.

The company now has two laundry facilities – one in Auckland and one in Nelson – as well as a depot in Hamilton.

It’s been a Member of the EMA since 2021 and uses the full range of services including AdviceLine, legal and consulting and training courses.

Taylors Laundries Team Coordinator Fiona Caskie and HR & Health and Safety Officer Jane Hamilton invited the EMA along to its state-of-the-art Auckland facility in Pt Chevalier to see how it all works.

In 2019, the facility underwent a $14 million machinery upgrade. As you’ll see, the end-to-end service delivery model is significantly more involved than your regulation washer-dryer at home and goes through a number of processes and checks between being picked up and returned to the customer.

The first stage in the laundry process is the receipt of soiled linen from the client site using approved health and safety methods. It is collected by Taylors Laundries’ dedicated team of drivers who act as an additional customer interface when onsite and receive feedback from the client.

Taylor Laundries has some very big customers including Air New Zealand, SkyCity, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare as well as numerous Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ districts.

The first step when it arrives at Taylors Laundries is the safety sort.

This involves best practice OH&S occupational health and safety infection control, state-of-the-art electronic processing and best-practice water and energy usage

After its journey though the washing cycle, the laundry items are dried, pressed and folded or hung.

Although filled with a dizzying array of cleaning, drying, folding and sorting machines, Taylors Laundries requires a skilled and well-trained workforce to work alongside the technology and provide critical human intervention.

Taylors is committed to sustainability and has implemented several initiatives to reduce its environmental impact. These include installing a high-efficiency boiler, heat recovery systems, and transitioning to 100% renewable electricity.

The company now employs more than 450 people with low turnover and high tenure.

In fact, their longest-serving employee, Nana, has been there for 51 years and they have 11 employees who have done between 40-50 years’ service and 29 employees who have been at Taylors for between 30 and 40 years.

It also recruits personnel through PolyEmp, which is a charitable trust whose purpose is to support young people with learning disabilities towards sustainable employment. 

The Employers and Manufacturers Association plays a key role in helping Taylors Laundries with its health and safety and management training.

The list of critical risks at Taylors Laundries is daunting and requires skills in specialist areas the EMA provides training in, such as supervision, HR management, as well as incident and investigation training.

On-the-ground training for Taylors Laundries’ staff includes fire warden and extinguisher training. And the company provides regular onsite visits by a physiotherapist to help with repetitive strain injuries and proper technique for lifting and carrying loads.

The company has a Safety First, Zero Harm commitment to creating a workplace where no one is injured or harmed. It also has Tōtika accreditation – a nationally recognised health and safety prequalification system in New Zealand.

Quality checks are carried out at each step in the process where Taylors’ skilled team checks for stains, garment defects, deterioration, holes, and tears are made.

If the quality check does not pass, the garment restarts the cleaning process at the wash stage or is discarded.

Each laundry bundle is scanned and sorted by slot number meaning the items are tracked from start to finish and guarantee they arrive back with the customer ready to use once again. Clothes such as uniforms are sorted using coded chips to make sure they can be grouped by type and by company.

With a strong foundation built on a century of experience, Taylors is well-positioned to continue its legacy of excellence and innovation. in 1919.