Started from scratch 25 years ago, Amleto and his sister, Sabrina Preziosi, have just celebrated the opening of a-4 thousand sq. m. factory near Rome where 36 employees treat 300 quintals of linen per day. A result of a shared passion, a thorough knowledge of the restaurant sector and an extra gear in washing solutions. Their next, post-Covid objective is to expand within the health care sector
“Me and my brother Amleto have had the strength to start from nothing while believing in something” explains Sabrina Preziosi, a fifty-year-old businesswoman from Rome. That “something” Mrs. Sabrina is talking about is the New Ristolav Sr.l., an industrial laundry based in Guidonia, the province of Rome. The headquarters, now 4 thousand sq. m. large, have just been renewed and expanded, giving work to 36 employees and processing more than 300 quintals of linen per day. All this is due to a historically acquired leadership in the restaurant sector and the current perspectives of growth within the health care sector that were further developed after restarting the production at full speed once the coronavirus lockdown was over.
The figures by New Ristolav are therefore solid and promising, and they acquire even greater value knowing that back in 1995, a 25-year old Sabrina and a 19-year-old Amleto Preziosi started their business from scratch. They opened their first, small laundry in Tivoli near Rome treating 5 quintals of linen per day. They both had gained work experience from different sectors before, e.g. newsagents. “Since then, we have never stopped working – says the co-owner of New Ristolav – first of all, because work is passion for us. It absorbs us and pushes us towards new challenges. Looking back, the first challenge, that would also explain the name we gave our business, New Ristolav, that was all about restaurants”.
The regions that are frequently visited by tourists, just like the area of Rome, offer numerous restaurants, thousands even. The high-quality service guaranteed by New Ristolav laundry quickly led to the visibility of the Preziosi, who, given the constantly growing business volumes, kept moving to bigger and bigger locations: from Tivoli to Guidonia, where they opened the first headquarters of 150 sq. m. Then, they moved to Rome, where they doubled the space, and finally in 2008, back to Guidonia. Here, the business took, first, a-800 sq. m. factory with fifteen employees, then, in 2020, they moved to the current headquarters in Guidonia. Also, moving up this path helps us understand how the business possesses all the necessary requirements that make it a leader of the territory, which contributes to gaining new clients constantly at the same time. From the logistics point of view, the current factory and its dimensions relate to 250 restaurants serviced directly, 150 restaurants serviced for third parties and the additional forty structures that include hotels and bed & breakfast.
“In order to understand the reasons for success of New Ristolav, it is crucial to highlight the division of roles that we established at the very beginning – says Sabrina Preziosi. – I am in charge of accountancy and client relations, while Amleto trained in the sector of detergents and cleaning products so that he became some sort of a chemistry specialist servicing our clients, the restaurants”.
“Tablecloths, – continues the co-owner of New Ristolav – as everyone knows, is a minefield of laundries because their treatment requires an always updated preparation in terms of fabrics knowledge, washing procedures, and to be precise, often also fashion. Consequently, high-end restaurants turn to those laundries that will follow the lines dedicated to their specific types of linen”. “This is why Amleto, counting on the supplies of excellent quality chemical products brands, – explains Sabrina Preziosi –can rely on a valid consultancy in obtaining a controlled use of detergents and additives.
The result is the elimination of any type of soil while assuring perfectly clean and soft linen, and the total elimination of bacteria”.
The expansion of New Ristolav during these first twenty-five years of business activity has been amazing, as the most recent factory proves. It extends over four thousand square meters optimizing a piece-count based transport system, one tunnel washer treating restaurant linen and the second one processing linen for hotels and nursing homes, three ironing lines and the fourth one coming soon. “Considering the efficiency and sustainability levels that we have reached, also attracting a chain of restaurants from Sardinia and not only, we think this is the right moment to open towards the health care system” confides Sabrina Preziosi. She continues: “We thought about it before the outbreak of the pandemic considering the total reliability of our laundry in terms of certifications and procedures”. “As a matter of fact, since the beginning of Phase 2, – continues Sabrina Preziosi – we have started some interesting business contacts with three nursing homes where we guarantee the European certifications of excellent standards, e.g. 1465, and the anti-Covid procedures that include antigen tests that the machines and the treated linen undergo in order to guarantee a constant traceability of batches and the full guarantee of the running efficiency”.
The Preziosi siblings are right: starting from scratch to get here is actually “something worthwhile”.
by Stefano Ferrio
DETERGO
JULY/AUGUST 2020
