Obituary: Jack Fowler 1936-2022

It is with a very heavy heart that we inform you of the death of Jack Fowler, founder of Laundry & Cleaning Today.

Jack was born in Maidenhead in 1936, he lived with his grandparents and spent his youth coping with the effects of the second world war, when food was rationed.

On leaving school his ambition was to be a draughtsman, he was offered a position with a local filtration company. In 1956 he joined the RAF to complete his national service.

In 1966 he joined Maidenhead district laundry (now CLEAN) and had the task of setting up from scratch a textile rental division, which he did with considerable success, the operation turned into a multimillion-pound business.

Jack later joined the British Textile Rental Association (now the TSA) with responsibility for marketing and PR. He was head hunted by Swan Laundry and then again by Slough Industrial Laundry, once again to set up rental operations.

In the early 80s Jack went it alone and set up his first publication, Housekeeping Today.

Jack helped the industry enormously by setting up the publication Laundry & Cleaning Today 30 years ago, bringing to the forefront all that is being developed within the industry, helping make laundry and drycleaning a more attractive proposition to newcomers. He was also involved with several industry associations and gave talks at industry conferences. And did much to help companies project their profile and always offered advice with no thought of any reward.

Jack acted as a huge role model for his daughter Tina, who joined him in setting up Laundry & Cleaning Today, who now, along with her husband, Mark, run the publication plus the successful CleanEx show and LADA awards.

Jack was a very modest man a real gentleman, who absolutely loved writing and everything to do with our industry.

He worked tirelessly over the years. He will be greatly missed by many.

Jack leaves a wife Rose, daughters Tina and Sally, along with five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

A memory page has been set up in Jacks name, all donations in aid of the Heart Foundation very much appreciated: 

www.memorygiving.com/jackwilliamfowler