The report takes a detailed look at the laundry (including launderettes, but excluding OPLs), drycleaning and textile rental sectors from 1997 – 2001 and covers sales in both the corporate and retail areas.
The corporate sector is still the largest, estimated at £797million last year. The sector benefited from a shift in the UK economy from a manufacturing to a service base, but has also seen a slow-down in client industries, in particular hospitality, which led to a fall in year-on-year growth from 6.9 % 1998 to 1.5% in 2001.
In contrast, 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% in 2001. Contributing factors have been higher spends on clothes and so, on clothes care, and the number of cash-rich, time poor customers.
Looking to the future the report concludes that laundry and drycleaning markets are exposed to the wider economy so any general downturn will affect the market, hitting corporate sales in particular. Changing textile technology, simplifying home-care of clothing could affect retail drycleaning and laundry services.
It predicts that growth will increase in the short to medium term but will slow in the long term.
