When Paul Maltby left the hotel business to run a laundry he thought it was the end of long unsocial hours.

Paul Maltby's laundry firm has just moved into larger premises to help cope with the increase in business

How wrong he was, for when his parents sold The Red Lion Motel at Upper Poppleton, near York, to Pubmaster three years ago, Mr Maltby continued to carry on burning the midnight oil.

But hard work paid dividends, for the proprietor of Monarch Laundry, has just moved from Acomb into much larger premises at Clifton Moor.

He explained. "My parents decided to retire, but I didn't want to take the Red Lion over, because, having a young family, the long hours did not appeal to me. So they sold it to Pubmaster."

Meanwhile, opportunity knocked in another direction. Monarch's former owner, who looked after the motel's laundry, was also retiring, so Mr Maltby decided to take the plunge and buy the laundry.

Ironically, he now works longer hours than he did previously. "At least I used to get a couple of days off, but now I'm working up to seven days a week, starting at 6am and finishing around 9pm."

Turnover, which he would not reveal, has grown rapidly over the past three years. "To such an extent it has enabled us to move to premises four times the size," he said. "It's all gone tremendously well, and growing a lot quicker than anticipated, due in no short measure to a number of laundries closing in the surrounding area."

He conceded: "I suppose we've been lucky, but I'd like to think a lot of trade coming our way was by recommendation, including the

Red Lion. Customers include the hotel trade, so now I see the work from the other side."

Competition comes from as far away as Kendal, Nottingham, Scarborough and Leeds. "It doesn't worry me because I can now take on and compete with the bigger outfits."

Starting off with three staff, it has mushroomed to 10 - excluding his wife Jillian - with the promise of more jobs to come.

But new technology has not altered the laundry business drastically, apart from computerised machines, which now come complete with fully-programmed washing, drying cycle, and ironing cycles.

So what does Mr Maltby get out of Monarch? "It's a real mixed bag with enjoyment derived from being my own boss and running my own business - the buck stops here."

But it hasn't been all wine and roses, and he readily admits to making a number of wrong decisions which cost him dearly. He said: "In hindsight I should have moved into different premises following the purchase of Monarch."

He stressed: "I came into the trade as a greenhorn, so it's been quite a steep learning curve. Nevertheless, growth has been so rapid we had to learn quickly."

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