Chairman's Statement

Johnson Service Group PLC
17 May 2000

                                       
                           JOHNSON SERVICE GROUP PLC
                                       
                AGM STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN - MR JOHN HANCOX
                                       
                                       
I said in my statement in the Annual Report that, after two months of the
current year, trading was in line with management expectations.

With a further two months of trading now complete, our drycleaning and our
British rental businesses remain broadly in line with budget.

However, CCG's linen division has not traded well in the last two months, and
management is taking action to address this situation.  By contrast, the new
workwear plant in Dublin is now fully operational and trading to expectations.

The integration of the Semara businesses is progressing well and early
indications are encouraging.  I shall report more fully on Semara at the time
of our interim results, which will be announced in early September this year.

I remain confident of achieving a satisfactory result overall for the full
year.