CWS takes over Buchholz Textilreinigung

Sustainability strategy consolidated, enhanced position in growth market

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05 October 2020Healthcare

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Duisburg, 5 October 2020. The CWS Group has taken over Buchholz Textilreinigung GmbH & Co. KG in Malbergweich near Bitburg with effect from 30 September. The acquisition of the tradition-steeped, modern industrial laundry means that CWS, a full-service health and safety solution provider, has not only expanded its range of services and products but also consolidated its sustainability strategy. All Buchholz employments will be kept. The company's previous owner, Patrick Schweyen, will continue to work in an advisory capacity for CWS Healthcare Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG.

Founded as a family-run business in 1939 in Prüm in Germany's Eiffel region, the Buchholz laundry is a medium-sized company with around 90 employees. It serves around 200 customers as full-service provider in the three areas of nursing care for the elderly, the hotel industry as well as workwear and personal protective equipment (PPE). This service includes the washing, processing as well as renting out of textiles. With its own fleet of vehicles, Buchholz also ensures that customers' laundry is picked up and returned on time and reliably. The company's catchment area lies primarily in the far west of Germany between the Ruhr region in the north and Luxembourg in the south.

The CWS Group operates internationally as a full-service health and safety solution provider and, with 10,800 employees, generated a turnover of over EUR 1.2bn in 2019. In its Healthcare operations, CWS offers nursing homes, senior citizens' facilities and nursing care services an all-round laundry service on rental basis: from bed linen and towels right through to a comprehensive range of workwear and the care of residents' laundry – all from a single source. Its takeover of the Buchholz laundry is a further step by CWS in expanding the business unit. "Above all high-quality service, state-of-the art, sustainable work processes, a diversified customer portfolio and a strong, regional market position make Buchholz Textilreinigung GmbH & Co. KG a valuable addition to CWS Healthcare,” explains Markus Schad, Director Cleanrooms & Healthcare at CWS.

Patrick Schweyen, who headed the industrial laundry in the fourth generation, used the company's move to Malbergweich in 2017 as the opportunity for a comprehensive modernisation. "Our customer base is extremely heterogeneous – from hotels to clinics, retirement homes and industrial companies right through to the German armed forces – so we regard efficiency and flexibility as equally important," says the company's previous owner. "The modernisation means we can now process textiles largely automatically. We have also improved the ergonomics for our employees and optimised the laundry’s overall consumption of water, energy and electricity."

Dynamic growth

The results of the modernisation are impressive, with capacity up by 40 percent per shift. "The acquisition of Buchholz strengthens us in several respects," says Markus Schad. "On the one hand, its state-of-the art equipment means the laundry operates

on a particularly resource-friendly basis. This enables efficient operation and fits perfectly with our strategic objective of figuring among the industry's most sustainable companies. On the other, the healthcare sector is a growth market on which we intend to concentrate as solution provider, especially in the sphere of mobile and in-patient nursing care for the elderly. Buchholz is particularly well positioned in this segment. We are looking forward to the cooperation and to being able to offer our customers the best products and services from both companies in the future."

About CWS

With innovative, sustainable and digital rental solutions, CWS contributes to a healthier and safer tomorrow. The CWS range is divided into products and services in the areas of Hygiene, Floor Care, Workwear, Fire Safety, Cleanrooms and Healthcare. Since April 2019, all service areas of the company have been operating as an integrated system provider under the name of CWS.

CWS is a brand of CWS International GmbH and its subsidiaries. The group currently employs around 10,600 people in 16 countries. In 2019, the company generated a turnover of 1.188 billion euros. CWS International GmbH and its subsidiaries are wholly owned by Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH.

More information can be found at cws.com.