CASH BOOST TO HELP LAUNDRY FIRM MEET DEMAND

A unique firm in the southern Hebrides has just received a major investment boost from Western Isles Enterprise in order to allow it to meet growing demand for its services.

The Uist Laundry and Cleaning company of Balivanich provides the only laundry and dry-cleaning service for Benbecula and the surrounding islands.

It serves hotels on the Islands as well as Caledonian MacBrayne ferries sailing out of Uig on Skye and Oban but its main customers come with the visiting Army units at the Benbecula base.

It was the sight of military laundry being shipped of the Islands from Lochboisdale back in the 1980's that inspired company founder Peter Carlin, then working for Uist Builders (Construction), to set up the laundry service with his twin brother as a partner in the first place. They realised that this was a service which could be provided on the Islands and set out to do it.

Now with three permanent employees and another two in the summer season, Uist Laundry and Cleaning provides a far quicker service than would otherwise be possible for the military and for local hotels, facing the quick turnaround times for bedlinen and other items needed between coach parties. Mr Carlin said that speedy and efficient service was essential for all their customers.

With business demand growing, Uist Laundry and Cleaning was facing the possibility that its equipment would be incapable of meeting peak demand, which would have been unacceptable to its customers.

So £23,000 has been invested in a new wide iron to enable the firm to cope with sheets far more quickly by ironing them side on. Western Isles Enterprise has provided £11,500 as a grant toward the new equipment which is now in place and working successfully.

The development of the firm has also enabled Mr Carlin, whose first school year was spent on Eriskay, his mother's home island, to sustain his return to the Islands.

With the expansion of the potential market this year to be brought about by the new Sound of Barra ferry and the Eriskay Causeway, Mr Carlin is hoping to attract additional business from organisations and people on Barra.

Mr Carlin said the firm began work in 1989. The military forces had provided the main market at first but the company diversified to cope with the decline in the military presence. Now it was expected there was going to a rise in the number of units visiting the local base.

He praised the staff of WIE and its predecessor the Highlands and Islands Development Board for their support for his venture. "This could not have been possible without the existence of WIE. They do look favourably on small businesses. They have been helpful and considerate about every application I have made. We could not have gone on without the help of  WIE," Mr Carlin said.

Mr Donnie Macaulay, WIE's chief executive, said this was a vital local service, essential for local hotels and the visitor industry as well as for the ferries and the Army. "WIE is happy to provide support for enterprises of this type which provide services otherwise unavailable to the local area, address market demands, and create a diversity of employment," he said.