laundry services
For centuries people have taken their dirty washing to be cleaned, making the laundry shop one of the oldest businesses in the world. Before the invention of machines, the work was done by hand, piece by piece. With the development of technology and a better knowledge of fabrics and cleaning methods, the process has become automated in order to handle hundreds of kilograms of laundry each day - or painstakingly detailed to clean a single item of clothing made of delicate fabric.
One company that handles this business on a large scale is New China Laundry (NCL), a subsidiary of the New World Group.
'We have one factory in Fanling, two smaller factories on Hong Kong Island and two factories in Shenzhen,' said operations manager Katherine Cheung Wai-han.
With its combined factory size of 280,000 sq ft, the company is one of a handful of major operators capable of handling dirty laundry in bulk for clients in the hospitality and entertainment industries. Although it has a few retail dry cleaning shops called Kleaners that handle itemised clothing, it is the company's commercial business that brings most of the revenue.
'Kleaners accounts for only 10 per cent of our annual revenue,' Ms Cheung said. 'We are not a major player in this market, and our primary business is our corporate clients. We have all the major hotels in Hong Kong and a lot of the big clubs, including the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Ladies' Recreation Club as well as one of Hong Kong's amusement parks.'