UK: Sales in the UK’s laundry and drycleaning markets last year totalled £1.34billion, according to a new report from Keynote.
This represents a 19% growth since 1997 (calculated on current prices). The report looks at the laundry (including launderettes, but excluding OPLs), drycleaning and textile rental sectors from 1997 to 2001, and covers sales of laundry and drycleaning services in both the corporate (commercial) and retail areas.
The corporate sector, still the largest, has benefited from a shift in the UK economy from a manufacturing to a service base. But year-on-year growth has suffered from a slowdown in client industries. Retail sales of laundry and drycleaning services saw a speeding of year-on-year growth from 4.9% in 1998 to an estimated 7.8%.
