History

Speediwash has been operating in the Gardens/Vredehoek area for more than 30 years. It was originally located in the Gardens Shopping Centre and in 2009 moved across the road (Upper Buitenkant Street) into the current premises where there are 4 parking bays reserved for Speediwash clients.

Current Owner

Elspeth, the present owner, took over the business in December 2014 seeing it as ideal location to grow the business by focusing on offering a reliable and dependable same-day laundry service for the many young (and not so young) apartment dwellers in the area, as well as the many guest houses and restaurants close-by.

Elspeth has spent more than 30 years working in the service industry and passionately believes that the client comes first – starting with Stannic Contracts division, then with IBM in their Post-sales Services division, and then moving to the UAE in 1997 with her husband. Whilst in the UAE Elspeth qualified as an Aerobics and Yoga Instructor giving classes and personal training session to both local and expatriate ladies. The success of this prompted her to open a Ladies Health & Beauty Studio and Salon which she built from scratch and ran successfully for 5 years, employing 11 staff, before returning to Cape Town in 2010, and spending 4 years renovating the family home while her husband was still overseas.

Improvements/Innovations

Elspeth quickly saw the demand for in-house Alteration & Mending (A&M) due to the number of bachelors lamenting about their ‘broken’ clothing whenever they brought in their washing. To guarantee the promised service level required additional staff to handle the increased volume as well as ensuring there is a backup for every skill area. Within a year of taking over the business the number of staff doubled, and today it has trebled. All the new employees were previously without a job so in a small way the business is giving a much needed contribution to the SA economy.