One of the country's biggest linen laundries is going on a hiring drive in Cork

ONE OF THE largest linen companies in Ireland has announced that it plans to hire as many as 100 people over the next few months.

Dublin-based Kings Laundry, which supplies linen and laundry services to the hospitality sector, also said that it plans to hire 80 seasonal staff for the coming summer.

Irish-owned and run, Kings Laundry already employees over 300 people at its facility in Tallaght, Dublin. The company said that the new permanent positions bring the total workforce at the company to over 550.

The firm opened a new Cork facility in June 2016 following a €12m investment in a move that created 40 jobs.

A spokesman for Kings Laundry said that there are currently 140 people at its Cork base, and added that the new hiring drive will bring the number of people employed by the company in the rebel county to 240.

Rather than manufacture linen, Kings Laundry services it and leases it to hotels. It said that it sources all its own raw materials in Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey.

“What the guys do here is they service linen for hotels and restaurants,” the spokesman said.

“They lease the linen, duvet covers, towels, etcetera, and then wash it for their customers and drop it back. The new jobs will mainly be in a production line.”

The company also said that it would invest an additional €2 million in its new Cork building.

Profits

Kings Laundry made an operating profit of almost €3 million in the 12 months to the end of December 2015, up from just under €2 million in the previous year.

After paying nearly €441,000 in corporate taxes, the company made a full-year profit of almost €2.5 million. This brought its accumulated profits to more than €10.5 million.

Kings Laundry managing director Robert McGovern said that when the company first opened its new Cork operation, “we gave a commitment to create 200 jobs within a two-year period”.

“However, we are now in a position to meet that promise 12 months early, which is an achievement we are very proud of,” he said.

Kings Laundry was established in 2000 when it opened its first small operation. It moved to its current location in Tallaght in 2005.

The growth of Kings Laundry comes shortly after another large Irish linen company, Celtic Linen, exited the examinership process after finding a new investor.

The business was set up in 1926 and employs 380 people in Drinagh, county Wexford.