Sunlight Laundry was a major employer in the Sands End area for over eighty years during the 1900s, operating two factories in Broughton Road and another in Peterborough Road. The Company also had a number of local shops.

The Loud and Western building on the Furness side of Broughton Road was the oldest factory. I remember there used to be a Commissionaire on duty outside the main entrance. He would be dressed in a brown uniform and don a peak cap. On one occasion word got out that he had handed out balloons to some children and he was besieged by begging kids.

  

(Above)  Sunlight Laundry Loud & Western Building with familiar white van in front. Notice also the chimneys of the former Fulham Power Station in the background. The building is now Sands End Community Centre/Library. Below is the former Sunlight Contract Building. Photos: Hammersmith & Fulham Archives. 

Sunlight opened a second factory on the opposite side of Broughton Road during late 50s. The Sunlight Contract building had a clock on the outside. It took in sheets, pillow cases and towels from such important customers as the Hilton and Dorchester hotels and the Playboy Club.

White Laundry vans with the yellow Sunlight logo (see Kenneth O'Harro's entry) constantly trundled up and down Broughton Road carrying hampers of washing from Sunlight shops and London clubs and hotels. The Rolls Royces and Bentleys of the Company directors were often seen parked outside the factories whilst the chauffeurs in their smart grey uniforms, enjoyed a chat and a cigarette as they waited for their bosses. 

A third factory later opened in Peterborough Road because of the increased business. But a down turn in the Company's fortunes by the 1980s brought the closure of the Broughton Road factories. The new Sands End Community Centre and Library took over the old Loud and Western building and a recording company moved into the premises opposite.

Now read the accounts of ex Sunlight employees.

Archive Photos of Sunlight laundry.

Pictured left is Mrs F. Roots, a supervisor in the shirt department. On the right is a picture taken during the late 50s of Sunlight Workers about to go on an outing supplied by Rosie Greenslade. Her uncle Sam Pritchard is at the back (behind the fellow who has his arm up on someone's shoulder).                                                                                                         

Hammersmith and Fulham Archive photos of Sunlight Laundry taken during and after the last War. Recognise anyone?