Sale of smoke-ban-hit laundry firm Scotia set to save 84 jobs across Scotland

Published on Tuesday 7 October 2008 21:10

A LAUNDRY firm that fell into administration after the smoking ban led to a fall in dry cleaning business looks set to be sold, saving 84 jobs.

A pair of "preferred bidders" has been selected for Scotia Linen Services – one to take over the Edinburgh side of the company and the other for the Aberdeen operations.

The bidders, who have not been named, are understood to have experience in the laundry and dry cleaning business. One company is understood to be Scotland-based, while the other is based elsewhere in the UK.

The deal for Aberdeen will secure 12 branches and 76 jobs while the deal for Edinburgh will secure the remaining facility and eight jobs.

Iain Fraser, administrator at Tenon, said: "We are delighted that the vast majority of jobs are set to be saved by these deals as well as providing continuity of service to customers. There was a lot of interest in Scotia and we were pleased that we were able to accelerate the sales process.

"From our appointment through to the announcement of the preferred bidders today has taken just over five weeks, which is a great result given the difficult economic conditions."

About 30 potential buyers expressed interest in the firm when it fell into administration in August.