A workwear firm whose Devon factory was severely damaged by fire has seen its new Exeter base contribute to a £5.1m pre-tax profit.
Johnson Service Group Plc has recovered from suffering huge losses during the worst of the Covid pandemic, partly due to the success of its new plant at Matford Green Business Park, in Exeter.
That facility opened in the autumn of 2021 .. The company’s new workwear plant is in a 31,000sq ft unit, rented on a straight 15-year term, and has increased capacity in the South West by 20%, thus playing a key role in the strong performance of the company’s workwear division.
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The group’s total revenue, for the year to December 2021, was £271.4m, up from £229.8m in 2020, and the pre-tax profit of £5.1m is a huge turnaround from the 2020 pre-tax loss of £32.1m.
Johnson’s factory in Cowley Bridge Road, Exeter, was badly damaged during a fire in January 2020 and the company took the decision to move to a new location.
A Disaster Recovery Plan was immediately put in place following the fire and customers felt nearly no impact or disruption and as a result, as the company continued to operate successfully.
The workwear division continued to service customers throughout the year with volumes reaching pre-Covid levels in November 2021. Customer retention levels were 95% for the year.
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Peter Egan, chief executive of Johnson Service Group, said: “These results represent a solid performance from the group against the challenging background of the Covid 19 pandemic and its impact, particularly on the hospitality sector.
“We saw a strong recovery of HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant and Catering) volumes through the second half of 2021 up until the last two weeks of December when volumes fell.
“This reduction continued into the start of 2022 impacting margins in Q1, although volumes in HORECA have shown signs of recovery in recent weeks. Workwear volumes have remained consistent throughout 2021, recovering to pre pandemic levels by the end of the year.
“During the year we have continued to invest in our systems, plants, people and initiatives to expand our sales offering and maintain our high quality of service.
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“With the strength and resilience of our teams, alongside the mitigating actions we continue to take, we anticipate that HORECA volumes in 2022 will, in the absence of any further pandemic related restrictions, increase. Cost pressures experienced in the final quarter are continuing and further mitigating actions are ongoing. We remain very confident that the business is well positioned for growth in the medium to long term.”
The Johnson Group comprises textile rental businesses which trade through a number of well recognised brands, servicing the 海角视频’s HORECA market sectors. The Johnsons Workwear brand predominantly provides workwear rental, protective wear and laundry services to corporates across all industry sectors; its services are delivered to a diverse customer base of 36,000 in the 海角视频. Johnsons Hotel, Restaurant & Catering Linen and Johnsons Hotel Linen provide premium linen services to the restaurant, hospitality, and corporate events market.
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