STANDING DOWN

The chief executive of textile rental and cleaning business Johnson Service Group (JSG) is to leave after more than three decades with the company.

The announcement of Chris Sander’s decision came as the company also announced plans to invest £800,000 in the Scottish hotel linen business it acquired in July.

Sander described leaving the company as “one of the most difficult decisions” he has had to make, but added that the group is in “excellent shape and very well-placed for continued growth”.

His planned departure was announced as the firm released buoyant first-half results and said it expect figures for the full year to be slightly ahead of current market expectations.

Revenues rose by 19.3 per cent to £138 million and pretax profit grew from £9.9m to £12.9m.

Johnson Service Group, which boasts dry-cleaning and tablecloth deals with the likes of Waitrose and the Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain, has been boosted by a

0 News of Sander’s departure came as the firm announced a jump in profits

CEO CHRIS SANDER number of successful acquisitions including Professional Laundry Services (PLS) in Scotland. The Bonnyrigg-based hotel linen business, which it acquired in July in a deal worth £6.6m, processes some 350,000 pieces of linen per week and employs 130 staff. Johnson said it is planning to invest in new facilities to support expansion at the firm.

“The acquisitions we have made over recent years, and the latest purchase of PLS have expanded our services over a wider geographical area and our integration strategy is enabling us to realise material distribution and synergy efficiencies,” said chairman Paul Moody.

“We have further to go in achieving national coverage and we will continue to consider new expansion opportunities. The addition of PLS, together with continuing strong performance across all our existing brands gives us confidence in the secondhalf performance.”

Sander started with the

“This has been one of the most difficult decisions that I have hadtomakeinmy career as JSG has been part of my life for over 33 years”