Luxdon in the Post War Era

During the Post War years the business bloomed with the introduction of the domestic Cellopac services pioneered by H Lumsdon Taylor and together with the Overall Replacement Service for Factories the business was now serving over 12,000 homes and processing 14,000 overalls per week.

Luxdon’s Setback Didn’t Stop Them

Unfortuantely, in 1961 a serious fire destroyed the main premises but with the help of other regional laundries the business was continued until a new Factory was opened on Wycliffe Road in 1962.

At this point in time the Laundry operated 11 Sunderland Depots (or shops) with another 11 scattered around County Durham (from Barnard Castle to Seaham Harbour) as well as 1 in Gosforth.

Luxdon Became a Group

As well as County Luxdon Laundry Limited other Companies in the Group included (at various times) Central Laundry Limited, Roker Laundry, South Tyne Properties Limited, De Mille Cleaners Limited, Cardiff Laundry Investments Limited (Vaughan’s of Cardiff) & Holdsworth Laundries Limited.

Under the stewardship of Mr J Lumsdon Taylor the business battled against the tide of the mass market domestic washing machine but eventually moved away from domestic and retail services and concentrated solely on Commercial Laundry and Linen Hire.