Johnson Service Group

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Johnson Service Group
Company typePublic company
LSE: JSG
IndustryTextile rental
Founded1817; 208 years ago (1817)
Headquarters
Preston Brook, Cheshire
,
UK
Key people
Jock Lennox (Chairman)
Peter Egan (CEO)
RevenueIncrease €513.4 million (2024)[1]
Increase €54.7 million (2024)[1]
Increase €35.6 million (2024)[1]
Websitewww.jsg.com

Johnson Service Group is a specialist textile rental business based in Preston Brook, Cheshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[2]

History

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Former head office in Mildmay Road off Stanley Road in Bootle
Johnsons The Cleaners, Wetherby, West Yorkshire (the dry cleaning business is now owned by Timpsons)

The business was established by William Johnson as a firm of silk dyers in Bold Street, Liverpool in 1817. Work started on a new head office at Mildmay Road off Stanley Road in Bootle under the direction of the then chairman, Benjamin Sands Johnson, in 1896.[3]

In 1920, Johnson Brothers acquired two dry cleaning companies, Jas Smith & Son and Flinn & Son Ltd of Brighton and, through further expansion over the next sixty years, became the largest dry cleaning organisation in the UK.[4] The company was renamed Johnson Group Cleaners in 1953.[5] A major competitor, Sketchley, launched a series of hostile, but ultimately unsuccessful, takeover bids for Johnson Group Cleaners between 1977 and 1985.[6][7]

After acquiring Stalbridge Linen Services in 1995, the twelve operating companies which made up Johnson Group Cleaners were restructured into just two businesses, Johnsons Cleaners and Johnsons Textile Services.[8] The company was renamed Johnson Service Group in 1998.[5]

Johnson Service Group acquired its competitor, the Sketchley Dry Cleaning business, comprising 103 branches, from the then-owners, Timpson, for £1 in May 2004.[9] In July 2006, Johnson Service Group announced its intention to sell its dry cleaning business, including the Sketchley and Jeeves of Belgravia brands.[10]

The company relocated from Bootle to Preston Brook in Cheshire in 2007[11][12] and was the subject of an initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market in June 2008.[13]

In January 2015, the company announced the closure of 109 of their 307 remaining branches; the reason given was that the 109 shops' leases had come to an end and it would not be viable to renew them.[14] Then, in January 2017, Johnson Service Group sold the remaining 198 Johnson Cleaners stores, along with Jeeves of Belgravia and Jeeves International, to Timpson.[15]

The company's listing was transferred from the Alternative Investment Market to the main market in August 2025.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2024" (PDF). Johnson Service Group. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  2. ^ "FTSE UK Index Series: Quarterly Review September 2025". FTSE Russell. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  3. ^ "Golden Jubilee for the J. B. "Journal": Mirror of the vast growth of Bootle Company". The Times. 10 May 1957. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Johnsons Cleaners". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Johnson Service Group". Companies House. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Johnson Group Cleaners Ltd". Hansard. 8 March 1977. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Learning from high street failure". The Telegraph. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  8. ^ "Stalbridge Linen Hire & Laundry Services" (PDF). Footprint. 1 April 2014. p. 26. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Dry cleaner Johnson snaps up rival Sketchley". Estates Gazette. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Johnson's dry cleaning business put up for sale". The Guardian. 22 July 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Sovini aims for 123 Bootle homes". Place Northwest. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Former Johnsons Cleaners headquarters to be turned into new homes". Liverpool Echo. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Johnson Service Group plans move to Main Market". Sharecast. 4 June 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Drycleaning firm Johnson closing 307 shops". The Guardian. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Timpson's buys Johnson's dry cleaning arm". The Telegraph. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Johnson Service Group shares transfer to London Stock Exchange Main Market". The Business Desk. 1 August 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
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