LCN interview

Chris Sander

3 December 2010



Chris Sander, managing director of Johnson Textile Care and a member of the Johnson Service Group board, recounts memorable stages in his career and tells LCN editor Janet Taylor why they are important


Chris Sander joined the laundry industry on leaving school in 1976. It wasn’t exactly his first choice but it’s one he’s never regretted.

He had wanted to be an architect but was advised that he would need to go to University. Sander wanted to start work and to start earning straight away.

He considered joining the police force where he could have earned £1,900 a year. Then the owner of Lakeland Pennine Laundries suggested that Sander might want to consider becoming a trainee laundry manager.

He had worked in the laundry during school holidays since the age of 13 and as the post of trainee manager offered a salary of £2,100 he accepted and now candidly jokes that he was bought for £200.

Valuable training

This proved a good decision. Lakeland Pennine was very supportive of its trainees, making sure they got a good basis for their careers.

The company sent Sander on a two year programme organised by Derby College and this included both practical and course work. The programme started with six months’ practical experience, working in several laundries in different departments followed by 26 weeks at college.

Sander made good progress, winning every college award going.

Looking back he says:”It was a fantastic deal. I was taking home £36 a week whether I was at work or college.” His accommodation and food were paid for and he received a mileage allowance when travelling to the various laundry locations. Most importantly he found he loved the work.

Strong support

The next memorable date was 1981. This was the year he married Anita, the girlfriend whose father had set him on his career.

While this was a personal moment Sander says that without Anita’s support he wouldn’t have been able to have the career success he has enjoyed. She has been wonderful in supporting him through the various changes and in particular though several relocations.

This, comments Sander, demonstrates the truth of the saying: “Behind every good man there’s an even better woman.”

A time of changes

In 1981 Sander not only got married, he also left Lakeland Pennine and joined Initial Services, moving to Leeds where his son Michael was born.

Three years later he changed jobs again and joined Bolloms, a previously-owned family business that was part of the Johnson Service Group. This meant a move to Cardiff and here daughter Rebecca was born.

In 1987 he was still with Bolloms when another career move involved relocating to Bristol following Johnson Service Group’s acquisition of Clifton Cleaning. In Bristol his second daughter, Emily, was born. “We decided never to move again as this was clearly thought to be the best family planning solution,” claims Sander.

Moving away from the personal note, Sander describes the laundry industry of the time.

It was much more fragmented than it is today. There were still lots of small family companies and the industry didn’t have the two dominant players that it does now. Obtaining new business seemed much easier.

A significant year

The situation started to change in 1996, a year that was significant for the industry.

At that time the Johnson Group had 14 subsidiary regional companies and each one provided both drycleaning and textile rental services.

Sander explains:“I was general manager of Bolloms textile rental business trading regionally with a local sales force, local sales literature and local financial resources. A similar structure was in force within the drycleaning companies with little or no national advertising.

“The Johnson Group then made the brave decision to restructure.” With so many different brands, the group had found that it could not leverage true national brand recognition whilst at the same time focussing on the core skills of both divisions with a very competitive cost base.”

So the group divided into two companies: Johnson Cleaners UK Ltd and Apparelmaster UK Ltd.

The restructuring was a memorable event that significantly changed the success of the business, says Sander. It did however bring with it a degree of uncertainty with many mixed emotions as it affected so many people in so many different ways.

Despite the uncertainty Sander came through the process and was promoted to the post of regional director of Apparelmaster. He was working in a company he liked with a job that he thoroughly enjoyed.”It was wonderful,” he says.

Expansion

In 2000 Johnson acquired the Sketchley textile rental business. The acquisition effectively doubled the size of the business overnight.

“We all had to learn new skills including how to manage a much larger business with individual business relationships.

“We also had to manage the customer expectations while significantly restructuring the business to maximise profitability and to allow the group to pay back money on the loan we took to acquire the business.

“This was a massive challenge at the time but the acquisition was absolutely the right decision for Johnsons.”

By 2003 Apparelmaster UK had become a very large national company. He says: “It was a magnificent time, you felt highly motivated and excited with adrenalin levels running high.

“The prize was seeing the results of everybody’s efforts and the increased profitability of the business.”

At this point there was a complete change in the senior management of the Group and the many changes that occurred were far from beneficial according to Sander. At this point, he was Apparelmaster’s operations director and had been in the industry for around 27 years but he was feeling undervalued and unimportant. Reluctantly, he handed in his notice.

Then his wife Anita changed his mind by arguing that he loved the industry, the company and the people and by pointing out that he was leaving for the wrong reasons. She reminded him that he was not a quitter.

Sander withdrew his notice. “With hindsight it was the best decision I ever made.”

He stayed on, did the job well and was appointed managing director of Apparelmaster. Two years later he was appointed as head of the textile services division with the specific responsibility of returning the Stalbridge Linen business back to its former glory.

As managing director he spent a couple of years protecting the business as the Group continued to enter difficult times.

Slowly the situation improved. By 2008 a different management was in place and Sander was appointed to the Johnson Service Group Board.

As a member of the board he became part of a very small team that has helped to turn around the fortunes of the Johnson Group.

As far as the future is concerned, Sander says that all industries, including the laundry sector, have to face the challenges of the economy but a difficult economy will allow strong successful, dedicated companies to progress and Johnson is clearly well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities.




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