Jobs on horizon as Fishers reopens laundry

FISHERS is reversing its decision to withdraw from Perth by reopening its laundry plant, creating 80 jobs.

Scotland’s largest commercial laundry and textile rental firm closed its Perth site in May 2020.

The Fife-based firm relies heavily on the tourism and hospitality industries, which closed during lockdown.

After losing a contract with the operators of Premier Inn and Hub hotels, the company said running the Perth site had become “unviable”.

This resulted in 84 job losses at the Inveralmond Industrial Estate plant.

But with the hospitality sector reopening, Fishers anticipates washing, drying and ironing more than two million items per week by the height of summer.

This resurgence in demand has made the reopening of its Perth laundry economically viable once again.

Fishers general manager David Emslie said: “This is the right decision for our customers and the business.

“We look forward to seeing the facility operating at full capacity once again.

“It was heartbreaking when we had to close our Perth laundry in 2020.

“That strength of feeling is matched only by our delight at reopening Fishers Perth now.”

The laundry plant has undergone a brief period of recommissioning and is now recruiting to build its workforce over the summer.

The company expects to return to its pre-Covid headcount of 80 people by September.

While the Perth laundry plant was forced to close, the Cupar-headquartered firm kept its Fife, Coatbridge and Newcastle plants open. It now also operates a Livingston site.

The move to close the Perth operation two years ago saw politicians lobby the Scottish Government in a bid to save the stricken facility.

Employees at the plant and drivers offered to job share and cut their hours if it meant saving their jobs.

A HIGH-RISK sex offender who flashed at children in Dundee before sitting on a gravestone to perform a sex act has been jailed for 30 months.

Paedophile Stephen Bell, 62, was also given a further threeyear extended sentence in a bid to protect the public from harm.

The serial offender was placed on the sex offenders register for life after he admitted a series of sexual offences when he appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael said: “The nature of the offences and your previous convictions mean a custodial sentence is required for the punishment aspect and to adequately meet society’s expectations regarding such offences against children.”

Bell’s solicitor Ian Hingston told the court his client was in the middle of a course about his sexual interest in young children when he was arrested.

The court was told he was arrested after carrying out a sex act on a grave after following young girls and engaging them in sexual conversations.

Bell was out on bail at the time despite having previously been jailed for sex offences and being deemed a high risk by social workers.

The court heard how he broke