How To Grow Your Business - Barker Group Dorset

Barker Laundry is one of only five dedicated true domestic laundry’s in the country that specialises in the collection and delivery of laundry to the general public. We cover the central southern part of England delivering between Oxford, Bath, Bridport, Brighton & London and everywhere in between. Our customers are amongst the elite of British society and include members of the Royal Family and many other well known people. The business has evolved from a small, backstreet, laundry, which, until 2005, operated from the original site in Latimer Road, Winton. The history of this laundry goes back to 1861 when the Argyll Family started trading as the Argyll Laundry providing door to door weekly collection and delivery of laundry to households and guesthouses throughout Bournemouth. Such was the popularity and subsequent growth of Bournemouth that by the 1930’s there were some 30 laundry’s operating in the conurbation, many situated in the Winton and Moordown area but with the advent of the household washing machine in the 50’s and 60’s, the days of many domestic laundries were numbered. 

The growth of Barker’s Laundry has come, primarily, from the demise of many smaller domestic laundries which have been acquired and absorbed into the main production facility at Winton. Fenton Laundry in Southbourne, Gainsboro in Sherborne and Anton Laundry in Andover have all been acquired in the last ten years. There are now fewer domestic laundry’s to provide growth but far from being a predicament, we see this as the time to continue developing our skills and becoming the No 1 provider of fully finished laundry services to the general public. 

We shall continue to provide high quality finishes to bed linen and table linen but also we are developing niche services such as starched detachable collars where we have become the world leading providers to an international market. We now remake feather pillows for a growing number of clients and every year the number of duvets we clean is growing. Our clients will soon be able to purchase fine linens and clothes care accessories from our drivers, in our shops or from the website. Our database of clients may not now grow significantly but the list of specialist services we provide to them will and these will be services that are hard for anyone else to provide. 

Matthew Barker

Managing Director

Barker Group

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