Western Hotelier Magazine - November / December 2006
Haddon Equipment & Supplies a commercial laundry warewash supply success

by Lola Augustine Brown



NO TWO COMMERCIAL LAUNDRIES OR KITCHENS ARE THE SAME: each has its own unique requirements from chemicals used to the type of equipment purchased. This is one of the key reasons why Vancouver’s Haddon Equipment & Supplies - which over the years has maintained an 80% share of the BC on-premise laundry market - has become a success story. The other reason is simply good, old-fashioned customer service.

Haddon is a supplier in good standing with many chain properties such as Coast Hotels, Sandman Inns, Executive Inns and Sheratons as well as numerous other independent properties including Ramada,Best Westerns and Holiday Inns. On the healthcare side of the business Haddon provides equipment and service to over 70 care facilities and Hospitals including clients such as the Fraser Health Authority.

General Manager and Owner Charles Reid describes the company as a onestop shop for customers, with the expert staff in their chemical and equipment divisions doing more than just selling the necessary equipment. Their strength is to act as consultants to ensure the customer has exactly the laundry or Warewash (dishwashing) set up they need with the right chemicals and machines for their individual specifications.

Team Haddon — working to keep “old school” principals of service alive

“In laundry we look at the formulating of the machines, whether they’re going to be for washing sheets and towels in a hotel or personals in a care facility. Our equipment and chemical divisions are always communicating so we know what the best package to put together for a customer would be,’ says Reid. Haddon carries equipment product lines including North America’s leading selling UniMac washers, Huebsch dryers, Miele Professional and CMA Dishmachines with Knight Equipment meeting all their chemical dispensing requirements. Although this has contributed to the company’s success, Reid credits Haddon’s service as being critical in securing their rock- solid reputation among customers.

Haddon’s commitment to servicing what they sell has played a major role in its success. Their service team responds to call outs within 24 hours and has three fully serviced vans on the go at all times. The company understands the critical need for immediate service when your hotel is full and your laundry equipment is down or you’re in the middle of serving 500 guests at a wedding reception and all of a sudden your dishes and glasses are not coming clean.

Considering that a number of the staff have been there almost since the company’s inception in 1953, there is a special kind of team environment that thrives at Haddon, helping to keep the old school customer service ethics alive despite the changing times. Haddon takes great pride in giving personal service to all customers phoning in to the office by providing live personnel to answer all phone calls. Haddon uses its own truck for chemical deliveries throughout the lower mainland and their driver Sandy, has been with the company for over 40 years. In 2006 Haddon invested in a new computer software program which was successfully implemented by long term employee Tom Phillips, which will greatly increase their efficiency and productivity.

Reid says the company has very little staff turnover. Two long-term staff have just retired; one, Ed Bridal, had been with the company for 50 years, the other, Linda Zotzman retired from full time after 28 years, but continues to work on special projects when needed. Replacing long term employees can be difficult but Haddon has been very excited to bring on board younger replacement staff that are creating new energy. At the end of the day, this provides a better balance which will be beneficial to the company in the coming years.

Reid himself has been around a respectable twenty years. “I started off working part-time in sales and really enjoyed learning about the business and seemed to have a knack for it. I became manager of the chemical division and then after I’d been there eight years, decided I’d be interested in trying to finance the purchase of the company,” says Reid.

It took ten years to own the company, but for Reid it was worth it to keep everyone at Haddon in their jobs and save it from being bought out by a multi-national competitor. “It all worked out in the end and for the past seven years the company has done phenomenally well,” he says, “We have great products and great people, that’s a hard combination to beat.”

Being the first to embrace new technologies in the laundry field has brought Haddon further success in recent years. The new solid laundry product, X3, was launched in 2002 and has become popular. X3 is environmentally friendly, safe on all linens (white or coloured), and completely disinfects all loads (in the United States, ingredients of X3 are officially registered as a disinfectant). The water and energy savings with X3 are tremendous, as it reduces water consumption by 40%.

That lowered water consumption has made X3 a popular product among those with environmental concerns, such as businesses in Tofino, on Vancouver Island, which this past summer experienced server water shortages leading some to close down. “Pretty much every resort in Tofino uses it,” says Reid, “as they are more willing to try a product that is more environmentally friendly.” Reducing energy consumption has played a large role in equipment advances in recent years and can result in lowered operational costs over the long term. This is something that businesses with outdated equipment may not realize.

Products that save time, money and the environment

“It’s getting more important for laundries to select the proper equipment to suit their needs because there have been so many advances in the past ten years,” says Reid. One big advance has been higher extract washers-which will extract towels at over 1,000 rpm—which reduces drying time, which in turn reduces energy, saving money and increasing production. “Operational costs are the biggest expense next to labour in running your laundry, so if you can save on water with a product such as X3 and energy with a high extract washer, that’s half the battle in keeping your costs under control,” he says. High efficiency washers and detergents working in harmony will save energy and water which is good for the customer and the environment.

Another advance has been in softmount machines. Gone are the days when you had to bolt the laundry equipment to a special reinforced floor as some of the newer models have suspension built right in to them. This means that the installation costs are much lower.

“If the last time you bought a washer was ten years ago and it needs replacing, talk to us and consider all the new features that are going to save you money in the long run,” says Reid. Pay back on upgrading your equipment can be less than five years depending on your specific application.

The 2010 Olympics is set to bring further growth for Haddon. Besides supplying new buildings being constructed to cope with the impending tourism boom, many Haddon customers realize the value of updating before the boom hits. Haddon is also in talks with the Vancouver Olympic Committee to provide laundry facilities for the new ice arena.

Haddon plans to keep on taking care of business in their own backyard and stay BC based, as there is still plenty of business to be had, says Reid. Continued expansion over the last few years has lead to the hiring of two new sales representatives based on Vancouver Island and in the Okanagan. Last year, Haddon also hired a third service technician to help manage their continued growth.

“We want to focus on our new and existing customers, ensuring that we are taking care of them, as well as being the forerunner in bringing new technologies to the marketplace in both equipment and chemicals for laundries and kitchens in British Columbia.