Barker Group Dorset Announces New Growth

It has been a good summer for the cleaning and laundry business and particularly for us/ Barker Group. Not only have our Dry Cleaning shops been busy but our laundry division, which provides bespoke and high quality laundry services to the great and the good, has performed better than expected. Most companies in this sector have not had a bad summer by comparison to last year, reporting that stagnation is a good result after the dismal trading of last year but Barker Group would appear to be bucking the trend by increasing like for like business by nearly 5%. Not content with this, Barker Group has taken on two new contracts, Lush cosmetics, early in the summer and more recently, Sunlight Laundries, Europe’s largest commercial laundry group, has commissioned Barker Group to undertake all their domestic laundry to private end users. Overall the increase in turnover for this financial year will be approximately 10% taking annualised turnover to approximately £2M.

“This is a benchmark figure for us following a slow recovery and return to profit following our fire in 2005.” Says managing director, Matthew Barker “We now have the momentum to continue this growth in the Domestic laundry market to £3M and we are currently exploring varies potential avenues to achieve this.”

Special Offers for Your Shirts

Do you need to make more time for yourself but still need your shirts laundered? At Barker Group, we recognise that your weekend should be your time, not spent with laundry and ironing.

Drop your shirts in to any of our branches and our specialist team will wash and iron them, giving a superior finish not achieved with conventional machines. We also offer an express service if you are pushed for time.

With 5 shirts for £6 and 10 shirts for only £10, think of how much time this will save you, to enjoy yourself.

Let us do all the work for you and leave you with a smart, professional look.

Background of the Detachable Collar

Detachable collars originated in the 19th Century and were either detachable or disposal. Cloth collars were made of either linen, cotton or celluloid which was an early synthetic material, with disposable collars consisting of paper or card.

The principle behind using a detachable collar was that a separate laundry finish could be applied to the collar i.e. starching, leaving the rest of a shirt ironed only. Several benefits of using detachable collars emerged immediately, it was more economical to launder a collar only, potentially getting several days wear from a shirt, so cutting down on laundry costs and time. Since washing a shirt was a lenghty process involving scrubbing by hand and often boiling, the process of laundering detachable collars saved time and cost. Also replacing a collar was far cheaper than the whole shirt.

Depending on the fashion, it was possible to achieve a higher or lower collar height, vary the colour, although white collars were the most popular. Detachable collars are still used today, predominantly within the legal profession and gentry. As the leading launderer of detachable collars in the UK, we strive to offer the same laundering techniques ensuring our collars are still as popular as in the past.

Visit here to see our Detachable Collar Laundry Service

Managing a Business in the Rural Community

Despite being Bournemouth based with most of its branches in the local conurbation, Barker Group generates 60% of their revenue from rural communities. “Probably 80% of our operation is in the town but it is from the country that we get the largest part of our turnover” say’s Managing Director Matthew Barker, “Our Laundry Collection & Delivery service is widely used throughout Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Surrey. It is in the country where the real wealth of the nation resides.”

Barker Group operates towards 30 routes every week delivering to nearly 2000 clients. A newly installed internet based tracker system ensures that each vehicle is maximised. Fuel wastage can spell disaster on a fleet covering approximately 500,000 miles a year. But the biggest advantage of the tracker system will soon be realised when Barker Group launch their internet based dry cleaning collection & delivery service across the South of England. “We are now in a position to direct our nearest vehicle to a client request on demand if required” continues Matthew, “Convenience is the most important factor in this busy age and this is even more critical in rural areas.”

Barker Group Sponsors Party in the Park, Ashley Cross, Poole

This year we are proud to be able to sponsor Party in the Park which is held on Sunday 5th September at Ashley Cross in Poole. 

This event is the 10th anniversary and we are donating 25% of all proceeds from sales from the event to the Richie Keefe Life and Soul Trust. We will be handing out leaflets on the day for use in our stores.

With great music and entertainment, it's not to be missed....

See you there on Sunday

Matthew Barker

Managing Director