Dry cleaning firm in £8m takeover move
AFAMOUS dry cleaning business Johnson Cleaners which has a Runcornbased parent company has been sold to Manchester shoe repair chain Timpson for £8.25m in its 200th birthday year.
The cleaning firm started life in Liverpool in 1817 as a silk dying firm. It was based in a landmark headquarters in Mildmay Road, Bootle .
Now Johnson Service Group ( JSG) has sold its dry cleaning arm to Wythenshawe- based Timpson.
In recent years, JSG’s drycleaning business – which also includes the high-end Jeeves Of Belgravia brand – has moved its headquarters from Bootle to Preston and cut its store portfolio from 500 to 200 stores ‘to create a sustainable and profitable business’.
Preston Brook-based JSG instead wants to focus on its textile rental businesses including Afonwen, which hires out some 3m laundry and linen items a week to UK hotel chains. The group’s other brands include London Linen, which supplies chefs’ wear and table linens to restaurants, and workwear rental firm Johnsons ● Apparelmaster. On Thursday, January 5, JSG also told the stock market that its textile rental business was performing ahead of expectations.
JSG chief executive Chris Sander said: “We continue to successfully implement our strategic growth plan, with the disposal of the dry cleaning business enabling us to focus our efforts on the ongoing expansion of our textile rental activities.
“I’d like to thank the whole of the dry cleaning team, under the leadership of Paul Ogle, for the contribution they made to the group and wish them every success.”