ONE of Hamilton’s oldest family-run businesses has been sold.

Michael and Caroline Woodward, and “Ruscal” the customer relations boxer, will hand over the reins of Hamilton Laundry & Drycleaners to A1 Cleaning Group this coming Monday.

In 1946, Hein Woodward and his brother-in-law, Herbert “Snow” Branchflower, purchased the Hamilton Laundry Service, situated at 246 Gray Street, from Mr JP Coffey.

In 1954, Hein and his wife, Mavis, bought out Herb Branchflower, and in 1966 shifted the business to the present site at 201 Gray Street.

Michael has been in the family business since working in his school holidays in the 1960s. He started full-time in 1972 and became owner/operator after the passing of his parents in 1981.

In 1982 Michael married Caroline Christie, and they have been running the business together ever since.

The business Hein Woodward bought was originally a laundry with a small dry-cleaning section using carbon tetrachloride, which was later banned. When this happened, they operated as a laundry with a dry-cleaning agency.

In the early 1980s, Michael and Caroline installed a dry-cleaning plant to complement their laundry business. Over the years they have updated their dry-cleaning and laundry machines to provide the best service for their customers. They also installed a garment conveyor system, imported from Italy, which allows the processed garments to be stored in the ceiling area of the business.

The Hamilton Laundry & Drycleaners processes a broad range of hospitality linen for hotels/motels, table linen for restaurants, cleaning of workwear, and dust control mats. They also process linen for the large number of B&Bs in the area.

The dry-cleaning department dry-cleans customers’ clothing, curtains, doonas, and quilts etc. They also specialise in bridal wear.