By Rukayat Adeyemi
LG Electronics says its partnership with Clean Ace Academy is to provide free training for laundry service providers, enhance their skills and upscale their businesses.
Mr Samuel Odenusi, Manager, Commercial Laundry Business, LG Electronics West Africa, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a Masterclass on Friday in Lagos.
Odenusi noted that since the programme started in August, over 150 laundry service providers had been trained, with a goal of reaching about 1,000 participants in Lagos by the end of 2024.
He added that there are plans to expand the initiative to other states of the federation by January 2025.
Odenusi explained that the partnership was premised on the desire to ensure that participants received high-quality training.
He said the Masterclass also showcased the best equipment suitable for the laundry business.
According to him, the Masterclass reinforces the consciousness of the laundry attendants to the disadvantage of using domestic washing machine for business purpose.
“It is advisable to use only the commercial laundry system for commercial laundry purposes.
“Not just for laundry business alone, but hotel, hospitality, restaurant, hospital businesses, among others.
“We are very committed to the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, because it is important for those in the laundry business to get it right.
“The laundry business is recession-proof, because people wear and use clothings on daily basis, dirty them, hence the need for laundry service.
“Though, many people have the domestic washing machines at home; they do not have the time to operate them or iron their clothes.
“This may be because of their busy lifestyle; so they may still have to partronise laundry centres,” he said.
According to him, LG started the business of commercial laundry in Nigeria in 2019.
Odenusi said, although, the brand was known for consumers electronics, it decided to venture into the commercial space by introducing the LG commercial laundry system into the market.
He said that the product was introduced due to a mindset shift of consumers, from personally doing bulk of their laundries themselves, to patronising laundry centres.
“LG is committed to producing durable products and has sustained its name over the years
“A lot of brand has been in the business earlier, but we decided in 2019 to also venture into the laundry industry, which is growing on yearly basis,” he said.
On his part, Mr Enibukun Adebayo, Chief Executive Officer, Clean Ace Dry Cleaning, lauded LG for the partnership and the free training provided for the laundry attendants.
Adebayo noted that, except for some of the laundry service providers who have the opportunity to travel outside the country, such trainings were rare to get by professionals in the laundry business in Nigeria.
Leading the Masterclass, the Clean Ace boss tutored the laundry attendants on fabric-care industry, including staff management strategies, maintaining production standards, and customer retention techniques.
He charged the participants to adopt standard checklist to ensure high quality service delivery, while taking precautionary measures, and avoiding health hazards associated with cleaning solvents.
A participant, Mrs Amosun Bolanle, described the training as an eye-opener, while commending LG for championing it.
